Salem High School Football Bus Overturns in Conyers, Georgia, Injuring at Least 12

At least 12 people were injured late Friday night when a school bus carrying the Salem High School football team overturned on Highway 138 near Interstate 20 in Conyers, Georgia, the Rockdale County School District said.

What the district confirmed

The bus was carrying 27 people when it flipped onto its side on Highway 138 at Old Salem Road, shortly before 11 p.m. on Friday, October 23. The district said the bus carried 17 players, seven trainers, two coaches and one driver. The team was traveling home from an away game at Greater Atlanta Christian in Norcross, which started at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

First responders airlifted one trainer to a medical facility. Ambulances took other injured students and staff to hospitals in the area. At least 12 people on board were injured, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. Authorities had not confirmed how many of the injured were students, and the full extent of the injuries was not known early Saturday.

Photos and video from the scene showed the bus on its side with a shattered windshield, heavy damage to the front and part of the roof collapsed. Crews later righted the bus after it came to rest in an embankment near a construction barrier, and a heavy wrecker worked at the scene into the early hours of Saturday.

Hospital standby and reunification

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital went on standby for a possible mass casualty event after the crash, FOX 5 reported. That step let the hospital prepare staff and beds while ambulances were still moving patients from the scene.

Head coach Fredrick Green survived the crash and was doing okay, FOX 5 reported. He was working to find out where each of his team members had been taken for treatment.

Officials used a parking lot next to the crash corridor as a staging and reunification point. Extra buses were brought there so uninjured students could reach their families and get home.

Road closed, cause not released

Highway 138 was closed near the Interstate 20 exit and around Old Salem Road while crews worked, and drivers were told to use other routes. The Georgia State Patrol, Conyers police and the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office were among the agencies that responded, according to WSB-TV reporting.

Investigators had not released the cause of the crash early Saturday. They had also not said whether another vehicle was involved. The district said its superintendent had been informed and that more information would be released as it became available. No deaths had been reported in the official accounts published by early Saturday.