Kevin L. Zadina

    Fifteen Seward students and a Seward School District bus driver escaped serious injuries Monday, Feb. 4, in an accident just east of Seward.
     There were 14 Seward Public School students, one student who attends St. Vincent DePaul Catholic School and the bus driver who were transported to Seward Memorial Healthcare Systems by another Seward school bus. Some students were visibly shaken up as they were moved from one bus to the other.All the students and the bus driver were checked out and released from MHCS.
     Monday's icy conditions caused the driver to lose control of the bus, which was traveling westbound on Bluff Road just east of the Plum Creek bridge on East Hillcrest.
     The bus was going downhill when it slid on the ice. In a press release from Seward Sheriff Joseph Yocum it said investigators deteremined that the bus partially left the roadway and struck the northeast portion of the bridge guard rail before sliding off the north edge of the bridge approximately 20 feet deep into the ditch with the back end sticking up in the air.
     Seward Superintendent Dr. Greg Barnes said he was glad it wasn't more serious.
     "I'm glad we came out OK with the people. We were really fortunate to come out with no serious injuries," Barnes said.
     Barnes said the district bus drivers have tons of training and talk about all kinds of situations.
     The 1993 bus is probably a total loss, Marty Telecky, district transportation director, said, but insurance adjusters hadn't seen the bus as of press time.
     The front end of the school bus sustained heavy front end damage and the bridge will be closed to traffic until it is assessed for damage by a structural engineer. The accident was reported at 7:48 a.m. Feb. 4.
     The Seward County Sheriff's Department, the Seward Police Department, Seward County Emergency Management and the Seward Volunteer Fire Department were on the scene. The Seward County Police Department is conducting and investigation.