MAPLETON – State police said unsafe speed for the road conditions was the primary cause of a school bus crash Monday morning that sent the bus driver and six students to a Presque Isle hospital.

State police Lt. Darrell Ouellette said Monday that the accident involving the SAD 1 school bus occurred on Pelkey Road just before 7:15 a.m.

According to Ouellette, Karen Lajoie, 37, of Caribou was driving the 1994 International school bus north when the vehicle went into a skid on a curve, slid off the right side of the road, struck a telephone pole, flipped onto its right side and slid down an embankment.

Besides the driver, the bus was carrying 16 students, ages 5 to 17.

Richard Wark, chief of the Mapleton, Castle Hill and Chapman Fire Department, said Lajoie had gotten all of the children out of the bus after the crash and the occupants were standing beside the road when rescue crews arrived.

“The scene was chaotic at first because we didn’t know how many children were injured,” he said. “But we got things under control very quickly and set up a triage area to treat those involved.”

Nine students were evaluated by Crown Ambulance personnel at the scene and then picked up by their parents, according to Wark.

Ouellette said that six students and the bus driver were taken by ambulance to The Aroostook Medical Center. All seven were treated and then released.

Wark said the children were complaining of back and neck pain, as some were thrown around the interior of the bus when it crashed.

The chief said the bus driver appeared to suffer the most serious injuries, including bruises and facial cuts from broken glass.

No life-threatening injuries were reported.

The bus had approximately $12,000 in damage, and $5,500 in damage was done to the Verizon and Time Warner Cable equipment on the utility pole.

Those involved were cleared from the scene in less than an hour, and crews spent approximately two hours cleaning up after the crash.

Trooper Shawn Whalen is the primary investigator and was assisted at the scene by Troopers Darryl Pelletier and Mike Pelletier.

jlbdn@ainop.com

768-5681