23 people taken to hospitals after school bus crash in West Michigan

Friday, September 15th 2006, 9:45 pm

By: News On 6

LAKE ODESSA, Mich. (AP) -- A car collided Friday morning with a school bus filled with students, knocking the bus onto its side and injuring several people, the Ionia County sheriff's office said.

Mike O'Mara, interim superintendent of Lakewood Public Schools, said he was told by paramedics that none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening. He also said there were 49 people on the school bus -- the driver and 48 students.

At least 23 people were treated at hospitals. Everyone on the bus who wasn't taken to a hospital was either treated or examined at the scene, O'Mara said.

The crash happened about 7:20 a.m. on a highway near Lake Odessa, a town of about 2,300 residents 30 miles east of Grand Rapids.

Deputies said an 18-year-old woman drove through a stop sign and broadsided the bus.

The National Weather Service had issued a fog advisory for much of western Michigan on Friday morning.