A sixth child has died as a result of a school bus crash in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Monday, CNN reports.
Keyonte Wilson has been identified as the sixth child to perish as a result of the accident, in which a school bus carrying 37 Woodmore Elementary School students swerved off the road, flipped onto its side and crashed into a tree.
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Wilson’s brother, Kevin McClendon, said that the 8-year-old “was a tough little boy.”
“I know he’s in a better place,” McClendon added.Police previously revealed that no traces of alcohol or drugs were found in driver Johnthony Walker’s blood, and reports say speed was likely a factor in the crash. Monday was the second time in two months Walker had crashed a bus, the first crash a “minor wreck” in which Walker “crossed over into the oncoming traffic lane to maneuver the bus through the curve and struck vehicle #2 in doing so.” No children were in the front rows of the bus at the time.
Investigators are examining video of front, back and side views of the bus Walker crashed on Monday in an attempt to understand the accident. The bus was not equipped with seat belts, as Tennessee is not one of the six U.S. states that requires them on buses over 10,000 pounds, PEOPLE reports. Some argue that seat belts would trap students in instances such as a fire, but others insist their benefit is clear.
“The position of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is that seat belts save lives,” the NHTSA’s Mark Rosekind said in November 2015, according to ABC News.
Five victims are still in the hospital as a result of the crash, and several are dealing with severe injuries. Twelve students were initially hospitalized after the wreck.
“We certainly understand on this week of Thanksgiving (that) we all need to be with our families, appreciating them, thinking about our kids, because there are a lot of families hurting in our city right now,” Mayor Andy Berke told CNN on Wednesday.
Womanista.com.
