Five students with the Exira Community School District and their bus driver went on a wild ride this morning after the bus they were in was hit by a car southeast of Exira. Superintendent Rod Montang says the incident happened around 7:30. Montang says a parent pulled their car out a driveway too fast, and didn’t see the bus coming over a hill.

The car t-boned the bus, and the rear wheels of the bus rolled over the front end of the car, which tore out the drive shaft of the bus. Montang the driver had to work to keep the bus on the road.

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See the update with the identity of the victim at the bottom of this story.

One person is dead after an apartment fire this morning in Cedar Rapids. Firefighters were called at 7 a.m. to a two-story building on the city’s northeast side (901 Oakland Road NE).

Upon arrival, they found smoke and flames coming from a second floor apartment. Cedar Rapids Fire Department spokesperson Greg Buelow says firefighters used an outdoor stairwell, forced open a door to the apartment and found a man lying on the ground just inside the doorway.

The man was taken to a hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival. The 35-year-old victim’s name has not been released. Buelow says the first floor of the building was unoccupied. He says the first floor was previously used as a bicycle shop and a grocery store.

The victim was the only person at home, but a pet dog also died in the fire. Investigators say it appears the fire started in the kitchen. The apartment did not have any working smoke detectors.

Update: The 35-year old man that died in an apartment fire this morning has been identified as Rodney Lee Noye.