Update: Driver, students injured in Mars Area school bus crash along Three Degree Road
An unknown number of elementary school students and the driver were injured when a Mars Area School District bus crashed head-on into a tree Thursday morning, March 6, along Three Degree Road in Adams Township.
Injured children were taken to a Pittsburgh hospital, and the driver was transported to Allegheny General Hospital, according to Adams Area Fire District Chief Talo Capuzzi, who said he could not confirm the number or severity of the injuries.
The bus veered off the road and crashed into a tree near 1619 Three Degree Road shortly before 8:30 a.m., when the crash was reported.
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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The aftermath of a bus crash on Three Degree Road in Adams Township on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
“Mars Area School District is aware of an accident involving one of our elementary school buses along Three Degree Road,” said Josh Schwoebel, director of communications for the district. “District personnel are at the scene and working with first responders to assess the situation and evaluate those students who were on the bus at the time of the accident.”
He said the district will provide additional information with the school community as it becomes available.
The crash was called a “mass casualty” incident over dispatch reports and prompted a significant response from area first responders. No medical helicopters were called to the scene, but multiple ambulances were needed.
Capuzzi called the crash a “high mechanism crash,” explaining that the driver was entrapped and needed to be extracted from the wrecked bus.
According to dispatch reports, the driver was entrapped in the crash. An initial report indicated the driver was not alert. Another report heard over dispatch indicated 30 to 40 students were on the bus and some were injured.
The extent of the driver and students’ injuries are unknown at this time.
Students were evacuated from the bus, and some parents were being allowed to pick up their children from the scene.
Three Degree Road is shutdown in the area of the crash on Thursday morning.
Callery Volunteer Fire Department, Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company and EMS, Harmony Area Fire District and EMS, Middlesex Township Volunteer Fire Company, Penn Township Volunteer Fire Department, Quality EMS, Richland EMS and units from UPMC Passavant and Allegheny Health Network also responded.
The cause of the crash is currently unknown. The crash is under investigation by state police and Adams Township police.
Assignment editor Tracy Leturgey contributed to this report.
