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1 dead, 2 injured in school bus crash on Hwy. 212 in Carver County
A 21-year-old woman was killed and two children were injured in a crash involving a school bus on Highway 212 in Carver County Tuesday night.
NORWOOD YOUNG AMERICA, Minn. (FOX 9) - A 21-year-old woman was killed and two children were injured in a crash involving a school bus on Highway 212 in Carver County Tuesday night.
Around 8 p.m., a Hutchinson Public Schools bus transporting a boys’ cross country team was making a left turn from County Road 31 onto Highway 212 when it collided with an oncoming 2012 Cadillac CTS, according to the Minnesota State Patrol and Hutchinson Public Schools.
The driver of the car, identified as Ellen Follestad of Glencoe, was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center where she later died, according to the Minnesota State Patrol's incident report.
Two boys on the bus, a 14-year-old and a 12-year-old, were taken to a nearby hospital with what the school district described as minor injuries.
"We are very fortunate to only have minor injuries as our first priority is the safety and wellbeing of our students," the school district said in a statement. "We are proud of our coaches, bus company staff and student athletes for the manner in which they handled this accident."
Friends and family identified the driver killed as 21-year-old Ellen Follestad.
"Her smile and her smirk, you tell her to do something and she’d be like I got it Lori just that smirk she would give," said Follestad's friend and boss Lori Teschendorf.
Meanwhile, the cross country team is still shaken and processing what happened including coming to grips with the death of Ellen Follestad.
"We are just so saddened," said senior Cam Wagner, who was on the bus. "Speaking as a captain on behalf of the team, you are not alone in this, and if there’s anything we can do and if we can do anything to help you guys get through this... Our prayers are sent up to that family."
The crash remains under investigation.