A Wiggins school bus driver and two elementary school children were injured early today after a semi-tractor trailer carrying cattle collided with the bus in heavy fog.
After striking the back of the bus, the semi rolled onto its side on U.S. Highway 34 near Masters Road and was struck by two pickup trucks from both directions, said Jacque Weimer, Wiggins school district business manager.
About 15 dead cows were lying all over the road. A half-dozen cowboys herded between 30 and 40 cows that survived off of the road after workers peeled off the top of the truck.
Some cows were so badly injured they had to be shot. Front-end loaders picked up the dead cattle and put them on to trucks to be taken to a Fort Morgan dog food company, where the cattle were originally headed.
The three men who were driving the semi and the two pickups were taken to area hospitals, Weimer said. Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Rob Marone said their injuries were minor to moderate.
The accident was under investigation, Marone said. No citations had been issued.
Highway 34 was closed in both directions about seven miles west of Wiggins, Marone said.
Bus driver Janice Marick was driving about six children to Wiggins Elementary School at 7:30 a.m. when she pulled out from Masters Road onto Highway 34 in heavy fog, Weimer said.
“The bus was hit on the rear side of the bus behind the dual tires,” she said. “The impact tore the hood off the bus but it remained on its tires.”
Marick, who had chest pains, was taken to Colorado Plains Medical Center in Fort Morgan, Weimer said.
Two students who received minor injuries were taken to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley after being bumped around inside the bus, she said.
School Superintendent Sharol Little said school officials were notifying parents of those in the bus about the accident.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
