Bus Driver Dies of Injuries in Fiery Monmouth County Crash; Student, Aide Hurt: Prosecutor's Office

COLTS NECK, NJ — The driver of a school bus involved in a fiery head-on collision Tuesday afternoon on Phalanx Road in Colts Neck has died, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday evening.

Charles Webster, spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said the identity of the driver is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

In addition to the driver, there was a student and a school bus aide on the bus at the time of the crash, Webster said. Earlier information posted on the prosecutor's office's Facebook page had said there were no students on the bus, but a news release distributed about 9 p.m. Tuesday included the new information. The injuries suffered by the student and aide are not considered life-threatening, he said.

Webster said the collision on Phalanx Road reported at 2:26 p.m. was a head-on crash between a 2004 Dodge Durango traveling east and a 16-passenger school bus owned by Helfrich & Sons of Keansburg.

There was no information immediately available about any injuries the driver of the Durango might have suffered.

The bus caught fire upon impact, Webster said, and the driver, student and bus aide were removed and taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment.

In addition to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team (SCART) responded to the scene to conduct the investigation, with assistance from the Colts Neck, Middletown and Brookdale Community College police departments.

Phalanx Road was reopened about 7:30 p.m., Colts Neck police said.

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