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| Dead Children and a Crumpled School Bus Leave Chattanooga Dazed | Dead Children and a Crumpled School Bus Leave Chattanooga Dazed |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Jasmine Mateen was standing outside her home here on Tuesday afternoon when her cellphone went off: Two of her daughters, who were injured when their school bus crashed on Monday, were being discharged from the hospital. | CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Jasmine Mateen was standing outside her home here on Tuesday afternoon when her cellphone went off: Two of her daughters, who were injured when their school bus crashed on Monday, were being discharged from the hospital. |
| The news pulled her briefly from her grief. Moments before, Ms. Mateen had been talking about her 6-year-old daughter Zyaira, the girl with the new leopard-print coat, who died in the same bus crash that injured two of Ms. Mateen’s other daughters. | The news pulled her briefly from her grief. Moments before, Ms. Mateen had been talking about her 6-year-old daughter Zyaira, the girl with the new leopard-print coat, who died in the same bus crash that injured two of Ms. Mateen’s other daughters. |
| “My baby’s coming home, but her sister’s dead,” Ms. Mateen said as a single tear rolled down her left cheek. | “My baby’s coming home, but her sister’s dead,” Ms. Mateen said as a single tear rolled down her left cheek. |
| “Even though she was the one who told me my baby was dead, I just didn’t want to believe it,” she said of her other 6-year-old, Zasmyn. The third daughter on board, Zacauree’A Brown, is 10. “I couldn’t believe it. You know how you try to hold onto hope?” | “Even though she was the one who told me my baby was dead, I just didn’t want to believe it,” she said of her other 6-year-old, Zasmyn. The third daughter on board, Zacauree’A Brown, is 10. “I couldn’t believe it. You know how you try to hold onto hope?” |
| This city, just north of Tennessee’s border with Georgia, reeled on Tuesday as it coped with the grim toll of the deadly school bus crash. The authorities said that at least five Woodmore Elementary School students — four girls and a boy — had died, and that 12 others were still hospitalized. Six of the children were in intensive care. | |
| Elsewhere in Chattanooga, the bus driver, Johnthony K. Walker, 24, was jailed and charged with vehicular homicide after the authorities said he had recklessly sped and swerved during his afternoon route. | Elsewhere in Chattanooga, the bus driver, Johnthony K. Walker, 24, was jailed and charged with vehicular homicide after the authorities said he had recklessly sped and swerved during his afternoon route. |
| “We are heartbroken for all of our students and their families,” said Kirk Kelly, the interim schools superintendent in Hamilton County. “Yesterday was the worst day that we have had for Woodmore and for Hamilton County Schools that I can recall in my life as an educator and as a parent and as a member of this community.” | “We are heartbroken for all of our students and their families,” said Kirk Kelly, the interim schools superintendent in Hamilton County. “Yesterday was the worst day that we have had for Woodmore and for Hamilton County Schools that I can recall in my life as an educator and as a parent and as a member of this community.” |
| Three of the students who died were in the fourth grade. The other children who were killed were in kindergarten and first grade, Dr. Kelly said, but he did not identify the students. | Three of the students who died were in the fourth grade. The other children who were killed were in kindergarten and first grade, Dr. Kelly said, but he did not identify the students. |
| “They will always be with us throughout our lives,” he said. “This is something that we will never forget here as a community.” | “They will always be with us throughout our lives,” he said. “This is something that we will never forget here as a community.” |
| The bus was removed from the scene on Tuesday, and crews worked along the blocked street to restore the utility pole that the police said Mr. Walker had struck. A small memorial of stuffed animals and flowers took shape, and investigators reviewed the crash site. | The bus was removed from the scene on Tuesday, and crews worked along the blocked street to restore the utility pole that the police said Mr. Walker had struck. A small memorial of stuffed animals and flowers took shape, and investigators reviewed the crash site. |
| The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation, and it will be months before federal officials reach any conclusions. But the Chattanooga authorities moved quickly to assign blame, and in an arrest affidavit issued on Tuesday, a police officer wrote that Mr. Walker had been driving “at a high rate of speed, well above the posted speed limit of 30 m.p.h.” | The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation, and it will be months before federal officials reach any conclusions. But the Chattanooga authorities moved quickly to assign blame, and in an arrest affidavit issued on Tuesday, a police officer wrote that Mr. Walker had been driving “at a high rate of speed, well above the posted speed limit of 30 m.p.h.” |
| Eventually, the police said, Mr. Walker “lost control of the bus” and swerved off the narrow roadway. The bus, which ultimately landed on its side, struck a mailbox, an elevated driveway, a tree and a telephone pole. | Eventually, the police said, Mr. Walker “lost control of the bus” and swerved off the narrow roadway. The bus, which ultimately landed on its side, struck a mailbox, an elevated driveway, a tree and a telephone pole. |
| The officer, explaining the decision to charge Mr. Walker with vehicular homicide and other crimes, cited “the reckless nature” of his driving, as well as “his very high speed and weaving within his lane.” Tests for drugs and alcohol are pending, Chief Fred Fletcher of the Chattanooga Police Department said in an interview on Tuesday. | The officer, explaining the decision to charge Mr. Walker with vehicular homicide and other crimes, cited “the reckless nature” of his driving, as well as “his very high speed and weaving within his lane.” Tests for drugs and alcohol are pending, Chief Fred Fletcher of the Chattanooga Police Department said in an interview on Tuesday. |
| Federal investigators say they expect to interview Mr. Walker, who received his commercial driver’s license in April and was involved in a minor bus crash in September. | Federal investigators say they expect to interview Mr. Walker, who received his commercial driver’s license in April and was involved in a minor bus crash in September. |
| Mr. Walker’s employer, Durham School Services, which holds a contract to bus thousands of Hamilton County students each day, said in a statement that it was “devastated by the accident.” The statement did not address questions about the company’s hiring practices, nor did it respond to reports that parents, including Ms. Mateen, had complained about Mr. Walker. | Mr. Walker’s employer, Durham School Services, which holds a contract to bus thousands of Hamilton County students each day, said in a statement that it was “devastated by the accident.” The statement did not address questions about the company’s hiring practices, nor did it respond to reports that parents, including Ms. Mateen, had complained about Mr. Walker. |
| A criminal history report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation indicated that Mr. Walker had no arrests before the crash on Monday, but State Department of Safety and Homeland Security records showed that his license was suspended briefly in 2014 for an insurance violation. | A criminal history report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation indicated that Mr. Walker had no arrests before the crash on Monday, but State Department of Safety and Homeland Security records showed that his license was suspended briefly in 2014 for an insurance violation. |
| No one answered the door at Mr. Walker’s apartment on Tuesday morning, when a woman who said she was a co-worker tried to slip a note under his door. | No one answered the door at Mr. Walker’s apartment on Tuesday morning, when a woman who said she was a co-worker tried to slip a note under his door. |
| The safety record of Durham, which is based near Chicago and says it transports more than a million schoolchildren in communities around the country each day, was also under scrutiny on Tuesday. A federal regulator, in statistics published late last month, said the company had received 10 “driver fitness violations” over the course of two years — a figure better than only a fraction of other similarly sized transportation companies. | The safety record of Durham, which is based near Chicago and says it transports more than a million schoolchildren in communities around the country each day, was also under scrutiny on Tuesday. A federal regulator, in statistics published late last month, said the company had received 10 “driver fitness violations” over the course of two years — a figure better than only a fraction of other similarly sized transportation companies. |
| The federal Department of Transportation said Durham’s drivers had been involved in 346 accidents in two years, but the statistics did not distinguish whether the company’s employees were to blame for the wrecks. And although federal officials had flagged Durham for its record on driver fitness, the company had not drawn special attention for a history of unsafe driving. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the company had a “satisfactory” safety rating. | The federal Department of Transportation said Durham’s drivers had been involved in 346 accidents in two years, but the statistics did not distinguish whether the company’s employees were to blame for the wrecks. And although federal officials had flagged Durham for its record on driver fitness, the company had not drawn special attention for a history of unsafe driving. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the company had a “satisfactory” safety rating. |
| A company spokeswoman did not respond to emailed questions, but the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Christopher A. Hart, said the panel would look into the company during its investigation. | A company spokeswoman did not respond to emailed questions, but the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Christopher A. Hart, said the panel would look into the company during its investigation. |
| Student fatalities aboard school buses are rare in the United States, where an estimated 25 million children use them daily. In a May report that examined crash data between 2005 and 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that 53 school-age children had died in accidents while they were riding in what the government classified as “school transportation vehicles.” | Student fatalities aboard school buses are rare in the United States, where an estimated 25 million children use them daily. In a May report that examined crash data between 2005 and 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that 53 school-age children had died in accidents while they were riding in what the government classified as “school transportation vehicles.” |
| Emotions were raw on Tuesday outside Woodmore, where Demetrius Jenkins stood around daybreak and thought about how he had not yet told his son about the crash. | |
| “I don’t know how to explain it,” Mr. Jenkins said while students ran, walked and skipped toward the school for their final day of classes before Thanksgiving break. The school district said that about 100 of Woodmore’s approximately 315 students were in their classrooms on Tuesday. | “I don’t know how to explain it,” Mr. Jenkins said while students ran, walked and skipped toward the school for their final day of classes before Thanksgiving break. The school district said that about 100 of Woodmore’s approximately 315 students were in their classrooms on Tuesday. |
| The crash occurred about 16 months after a gunman opened fire at two military sites in Chattanooga, killing five servicemen. | The crash occurred about 16 months after a gunman opened fire at two military sites in Chattanooga, killing five servicemen. |
| “Five is a cursed number in our city right now, and so we are again dealing with unimaginable loss,” Mayor Andy Berke said. “The most unnatural thing in the world is for a parent to mourn the loss of a child. There are no words that can bring comfort to a mother or a father.” | “Five is a cursed number in our city right now, and so we are again dealing with unimaginable loss,” Mayor Andy Berke said. “The most unnatural thing in the world is for a parent to mourn the loss of a child. There are no words that can bring comfort to a mother or a father.” |