ROME, Ga. — A frightening incident late Thursday night left over 10 Rome High School students injured when their school bus overturned after a collision with another vehicle.
The driver of the car involved was arrested and was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, Georgia State Patrol said Friday morning. That driver was later identified as Jeyonna Underwood, 21, of Rome. She faces charges including DUI, DUI-endangerment of child under age 14 and failure to maintain lane.
According to Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center, there were 15 total people hurt in the crash, with three being adults. They were all discharged. Officials said that the students were coming back home from a scrimmage at Rockmart High School.
The crash happened around 10:45 p.m. on Highway 101, near Old Rome Road and Doc Moats Road. The impact caused the bus to roll over and become entangled in power lines, complicating rescue efforts for first responders.
"We were getting ready to go to bed when we heard a big boom," one witness said. "We came outside, looked down and saw the bus overturned, with lights flashing and people screaming. I dropped everything and ran down to help get people out of the bus."
Firefighters from Polk County Fire Rescue arrived quickly. Despite the challenging circumstances, they safely evacuated all passengers from the bus without needing mechanical extrication tools.
"They helped them all off the bus," a Polk County Fire Rescue firefighter said. "Everybody worked together seamlessly, which is exactly how we train. It's important to remember that Polk County is primarily served by a volunteer fire department, so the people who responded have other jobs."
Several injured students were transported to Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center, according to fire officials. The extent of their injuries or how many students were transported is currently unknown.
GSP described the circumstances of the crash in a statement.
The GSP statement said:
On August 8th, 2024, at 10:50pm, Troopers from Post 3 Cartersville responded to a two-vehicle crash on GA-101 at Doc Moates Road. The crash investigation determined that a Nissan Versa was traveling south negotiating a slight curve on GA-101. A Rome City school bus was traveling north negotiating a slight curve on GA-101. The driver of the Nissan failed to maintain her lane traveling into the north bound lane and causing the front of the Nissan to strike the driver side rear wheel. After impact, the Nissan began to rotate counterclockwise before traveling off the west shoulder of the roadway coming to an uncontrolled final stop. After impact, the School Bus crossed the center line and traveled off the west shoulder of the roadway before overturning and striking a power pole coming to an uncontrolled final stop. The driver of the Nissan was suspected to be under the influence of alcohol and was placed under arrest. All injured parties were transported to local hospitals for treatment. MCCD responded to the scene to do a CMV investigation.
The Polk County School District released the following statement:
"Polk School District extends our thoughts and prayers to the Rome High School student athletes and staff involved in a bus accident following Thursday evening's scrimmage at Rockmart High School. Please join us in sending well wishes to all involved."
Rome City Schools said this:
Last night, a Rome High School bus returning from the football scrimmage game against Rockmart was involved in an accident on Highway 101 midway between Rockmart and Rome. Emergency services arrived and gave aid to individuals with injuries. A few individuals were transported to the hospital. Everyone else was put on another bus and transported back to Rome High School.
Fire rescue did not provide any details about the other driver or if there would be any arrests. Georgia State Patrol has now taken over the investigation of the crash.
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