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Crime & Safety

Levittown Students Involved in Boston Overpass Crash

Initial reports indicate a bus headed from Harvard University to Bristol hit an overpass in Boston, Mass. Local high school students were on the bus, media reports indicate.

Sunday, 12:30 p.m.:

Police in Massachusetts have identified the driver as 66-year-old Philadelphia resident Samuel J. Jackson.

Authorities have not yet released updated information on the conditions of the victims.

Find out what's happening in Levittownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sunday, 2:19 a.m.:

A tour bus chartered by a Bristol Borough organization struck an overpass in Boston, Mass. Saturday evening.

Find out what's happening in Levittownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Forty-two students and chaperones were on board the bus when it struck the overpass at 7:34 p.m., according to the Boston Fire Department.

The Boston EMS agency reports that 30 people suffered minor injuries. Three were seriously hurt and one person is suffering from life-threatening injuries.

Boston firefighters spent more than an hour extricating passengers, using backboards, from the roof of the bus at 500 Soldiers Field Road, a major thoroughfare in the city.

Sixty firefighters and "many, many EMS" responded to the scene, Boston Fire reported. The last victim was taken from the bus at 9 p.m. Four mass transit buses were on scene with those not injured, keeping them out of the cold. 

Some of the teens on the bus are students at Pennsbury High School, a father of a victim told NBC10.com. Several Patch readers have indicated Harry S. Truman High School students were also on board the bus.

The bus was operated by Calvary Coach out of Philadelphia and was chartered by the local Destined for a Dream Foundation.

The group was in New England to explore Harvard University. The trip also included shopping and sight-seeing, the nonprofit group posted on Facebook several days ago.

"Investigation ongoing as to whether charges warranted in bus crash," the Massachusetts State Police said in a statement. Officials said the bus driver is believed to have missed sign prohibiting vehicle from the road.

Accident investigators were at the scene of the crash late Saturday night, the Boston Fire Department said.

The Destined for a Dream Foundation was founded in 2008 by Erica Waller-Hill to "inspire and empower youth and young adults through life coaching," the organization states on its website.

Stay with Patch for more information on this developing story.

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