At least four people were injured when a pickup ran into a school bus in Sidney this morning just east of the Sidney Junior/Senior High School at around 8:15.

Sidney School Superintendent Gregg Cruickshank says a student driving a pickup hit the bus. He says the school bus left the school heading east to the Ag shop and the truck driven by the student heading to the high school veered across the center line and hit the school bus head-on. The collision sent the school bus into the ditch.

The driver of the pickup, believed to be a Sidney High School junior, was taken via Lifenet Helicopter to Creighton University Medical Center. Two students and the school bus driver were transported to CHI Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Nebraska City for observation, and treatment of minor injuries. Approximately 13 students were on the bus at the time of the accident. Names of the injured have not been released.

“We run a shuttle bus from the junior-senior high school to our vocational agriculture/automotive shop on a period-by-period basis,” he said. “Those students were headed to our vocational agriculture/automotive location in the center of town.”

Cruickshank says school administrators are keeping students and parents informed of the situation. He says a Green Hills AEA crisis team has been contacted to provide further support.

(Reporting by Mike Peterson, KMA, Shenandoah)