At least 18 injured in North Carolina multi-vehicle crash where car and dump truck hit a school bus

At least 15 students were injured and a man is fighting for his life following a crash involving a school bus, car and dump truck in North Carolina on Wednesday morning. 

Paramedics at the scene in Charlotte confirmed that 15 of the 18 injured were students from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) and one of the adult victims had sustained life-threatening injuries, WSOC reported. 

The school bus was carrying 40 students when the passenger car and dump truck hit it, CMS officials said. 

The bus driver and dump truck driver were trapped inside their vehicles after the crash but were freed by the Charlotte Fire Department. It was not immediately clear if one of the drivers was the victim who sustained life-threatening injuries.

One of the adult victims was reported to have sustained life-threatening injuries

It took officials 30 mins to free the bus driver and one hour to free the dump truck driver

Mecklenburg Emergency Medical Services Agency (MEDIC) officials it took emergency workers 30 minutes to free the bus driver and an hour to remove the dump truck driver.

Fire department officials said freeing the drivers took long due to the sheer amount of dented metal surrounding them from the crash.  

The children were all taken the hospital in a mass casualty bus to treat their minor injuries, WRAL reported. 

Angie Washington, who lives in the area, told WRAL that she was in her home when she heard a loud boom and the screaming of school children. 

‘I saw all the children getting out the back of the bus and I ran down here,’ she said. ‘Kids were crying, they were a little hysterical.’

This is a developing story.