6-Year Old Killed in Kentucky School Bus Crash

BARDWELL, Ky. -- A school bus swerved off the road and rolled over several times, killing a 6-year-old boy and injuring several others on board Monday, authorities said.

The western Kentucky accident occurred as students from Carlisle County Elementary School were returning from a field trip to Paducah, said Kentucky State Police trooper Dean Patterson.

Carlisle County Coroner Steve Freeman said the boy was pronounced dead at the crash scene. Freeman was withholding the student's name until family had been notified.

Officials said the bus dropped off the right side of a two-lane highway, then ran across the road and overturned, rolling several times into a ravine on the other side of the road. Freeman said the vehicle came to rest about 50 to 60 feet off the road.

"I wish I hadn't seen it," Freeman said of the scene.

Western Baptist Hospital spokeswoman Dona Rains said at least 12 people were being treated there for injuries.

Patterson said the cause of the accident was still under investigation.