EVERETT — A crash involving a car and school bus closed Highway 99 and sent five people to hospitals Monday afternoon.
There were no children on the bus at the time, Edmonds School District spokeswoman DJ Jakala said.
The bus had taken students to their homes outside of Edmonds School District boundaries. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act provides federal money to transport children from temporary homes outside of their original school districts.
The collision occurred about 3:10 p.m. along Highway 99 near Airport Road. The crash involved the bus, passenger car, a pole and a fire hydrant, officials said.
The crash caused backups in both directions, Washington State Patrol trooper Mark Francis said.
Two men in their late teens or early 20s were transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The other three were taken to Swedish/Edmonds hospital, Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said. One of those people taken to Swedish was the bus driver.
One of the men taken to Harborview suffered critical injuries, Francis said.
A passenger in the car was ejected into a parking lot. He was taken to Swedish.
The cause of the crash was still under investigation Monday evening. The crash sheared off a fire hydrant, but it didn’t spray water, Hynes said.
“Our hearts go out to all the people involved in the accident,” Jakala said. “When you see the condition of the car, it is very disheartening.”
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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