A semitrailer truck veered off a highway and crashed through the wall of an elementary school in southern Minnesota, injuring four people including two children in a classroom, on Tuesday morning.
School officials in Lyle, near to the Iowa border, say the semi rear-ended a Chevrolet Malibu on Highway 218 at around 8.30am, then careered off the highway and slammed into the school with its cab landing inside a load-bearing wall.
The busy highway is located about 100 yards from Lyle Public School near Austin, Minnesota.
A semitrailer is embedded in the side of Lyle Public School Tuesday morning, Jan. 16, 2018 after it veered off a highway and crashed through the wall of the elementary school in Lyle, Minnesota. The semi left Highway 218 in Lyle after trying to avoid a car making a turn, striking it in the right rear of the vehicle. (Eric Johnson/The Daily Herald via AP)
A rough track leads to a semi, embedded in the side of Lyle Public School Tuesday morning, Jan. 16, 2018. The semi left Highway 218 in Lyle after trying to avoid a car making a turn, striking it in the right rear of the vehicle. (Eric Johnson/The Daily Herald via AP)
Two students, along with the driver of the Chevy and a child passenger in the vehicle hit by the semi sustained minor head injuries.
Another student at the school told the station KIMT3 the crash sounded ‘like a bomb went off.’
Passerby Mark Lonergan witnessed the accident described the chaotic scene as ‘diesel fuel spraying everywhere and kids screaming.’
The vehicle became lodged in the exterior wall of the art classroom, where there were 12 students and a teacher present at the time.
A Minnesota State Patrol trooper surveys the accident scene on Highway 218 Tuesday morning, Jan. 16, 2018 involving a car, foreground, and a semitrailer that left the road and collided with Lyle Public School in Lyle, Minn. (Eric Johnson/The Daily Herald via AP)
Parents learned of the crash via text message and were instructed to go to Our Saviors Lutheran Church to pick up their children, who were let out early because of the fuel that spilled inside the building and the damage to the structure.
School was canceled for the remainder of the day and there will be no classes on Wednesday.
All students were evacuated to Our Saviors Lutheran Church across the street.