CLARKSVILLE, TN (WKRN) – When a Kenwood Middle School bus crashed in Carroll County on Friday, some of the parents were traveling in a separate car behind it. What they saw was heartbreaking. But they were able to jump in to help.
At around noon on Friday, the bus was traveling to the Toyota Hub City Grand Prix Greenpower USA Race at the Jackson Rockabilly Stadium, officials said.
Xaviel Lugo and his wife, Rosalee Lugo, were driving behind the bus, which their daughter was riding, along with 24 other students and five adults, according to Clarksville Now news partner WKRN-Channel 2 in Nashville.
“They had spent all year building a car, a race car, from the ground up,” Xaviel told WKRN.
How the crash happened
The students’ excitement about racing their homemade cars took a deadly turn at Highway 70 and Cedar Grove. According to Tennessee Highway Patrol, the bus crashed with a Tennessee Department of Transportation dump truck and a Chevrolet Trailblazer. Dash cam video shows the bus steadily crossing the double yellow lines before hitting the dump truck head-on.
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“I swerved out the way from all the debris and into the grass area, parked it as quickly as I was able to,” Xaviel told WKRN. “My wife and I jumped out the car. She went straight for the bus, and I was calling 911 to get emergency services out as quickly as possible.”
Getting students to safety
Before emergency crews arrived, the couple said they helped the students get to safety.
“One of the first boys, Wesley, he was amazing,” Xaviel said. “I don’t know if he was hurt or anything, but as soon as we were able to get him out the bus, you didn’t even have to tell him. He knew exactly what he had to do, and that was to help his classmates.”
| PREVIOUSLY: Mourners gather for vigil at Kenwood Middle to remember students killed in bus crash | PHOTOS
Xaviel said he was able to find and help his own daughter from the bus, adding that she was one of the students flown to a hospital due to the nature of her injuries. Even though she’s still getting treatment, she’s expected to be OK.
“My daughter saw one of the girls that passed away. … I just wish she never would have experienced that,” Xaviel told WKRN.
Coming together to help families
Xaviel said Clarksville is strong and comes together in times of need, such as this.
“I don’t know how I would have handled that if it was my daughter, and so we have to support them and be there and have resources for other kids to be able to talk and cry and let it out and support each other and just be there for them and let them process it in their own way,” Xaviel said.
| FULL STORY, VIDEO: Parents describe moments before, after deadly school bus crash as Montgomery County community honors victims
Two eighth-graders, Zoe and Arianna, died in the crash. Follow these links if you would like to donate to the GoFundMe pages set up to support Arianna and Zoe’s families.
Chris Smith at Clarksville Now contributed to this report.
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