Student and driver killed in Iowa bus fire 

School bus driver, Donnie Hendricks (pictured), 74, and student, Megan Klindt, 16, were killed in a bus fire Tuesday morning

A driver and a student were killed in Iowa early Tuesday after a fire erupted on a school bus when it backed into a ditch. 

Police said no one else was on the bus when it caught on fire around 7am southeast of Oakland, which is about 35 miles east of Omaha, Nebraska.

Donnie Hendricks, 74, of Carson, Iowa, was identified as the driver. Police also released the identity of the student, Megan Klindt, 16, who lived at the farm where the bus fire occurred.

A resident of the Klindt house called 911 but when firefighters arrived, the bus was already engulfed in flames.

First responders found the remains of the driver and student after the fire was extinguished, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Lt Rob Ambrose said.  

Initial reports on the fire indicated that as many as 20 people may have been on the bus, but Ambrose said only the student and the driver were on the bus at the time of the fire.

Ambrose said it may have been Hendricks’ first stop of the day.

Investigators said the bus, from the Riverside Community School District, caught on fire after it backed out of a farm driveway and into a ditch across the road. 

Timothy Mitchell, the superintendent of the Riverside district, said the district ‘suffered a tragedy when we lost a student and an employee in a school bus accident’.

‘Our hearts go out to their families and loved ones. The investigation into the cause of the accident is underway, and we are cooperating with law enforcement as they do their work,’ Mitchell said. 

‘The safety of students and staff is the top priority for the District,’ he added.

First responders found the remains of the driver and a student after the fire was extinguished, Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Lt Rob Ambrose said. Authorities said the bus (pictured) fire is still under investigation. The cause of the fire has not been determined

First responders found the remains of the driver and a student after the fire was extinguished, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Lt Rob Ambrose said. Authorities said the bus (pictured) fire is still under investigation. The cause of the fire has not been determined

Classes weren’t canceled on Tuesday, according to Mitchell, who said a Crisis Team from the Green Hills Area Education Agency along with area schools counselors and community volunteers were ‘deployed to all our buildings to assist students and staff’.  

After-school activities were canceled for Tuesday and will be rescheduled.

Garret Loring, 23, of Oakland, who works at the Buck Snort restaurant in town, told the Omaha World-Herald that he knew the Hendricks.

‘He’s been a driver for a long, long time,’ Loring said.

Hendricks and his wife, Kathy, were grand marshals of Riverside’s homecoming parade this fall.

Brittnee Chase, 19, of Oakland, told the newspaper that Hendricks was her bus driver when she was in school.

‘He was a good guy,’ she said. ‘He was amazing.’ 

Authorities said the fire is still under investigation. The cause of the fire has not been determined.



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk