Twelve middle school students from Massachusetts and Rhode Island are recovering from injuries suffered in Canada when their bus overturned and flipped into a ditch Sunday night during a field trip.
The injured students were released from a Canadian hospital yesterday and were due back at Wheeler School in Providence late last night, school officials said. Two faculty chaperones were also injured. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, Quebec police and school officials said.
The bus was returning to Quebec City from a maple sugar production facility about 45 minutes outside Quebec when the driver lost control in poor weather conditions, police said.
"It was very, very rainy and the visibility was not too good," said Ann Mathieu , a spokeswoman for the Quebec Provincial Police. "The bus slid, and the driver tried to get it back on the road . . . then it fell down on its side."
Thirty-nine students and six chaperones were on the bus when it crashed. The injuries ranged from cuts and bruises on students to a faculty member's broken clavicle, said Young Un , director of the middle school at Wheeler.
"The students are doing very well. We've been lucky," Un said.
Each year, some seventh- and eighth-graders take the trip to Quebec, Un said. The students were expected to return to the school at about 11 p.m. and counselors would be available for students and parents, Un said.
"This was a scary incident and a long night for the students and families. We are fortunate that the injuries are relatively minor and grateful for the fine work of the faculty chaperones," said Dan Miller , head of Wheeler School, in a statement.
Parents at the school last night recalled what they heard from their children who were on the bus when it crashed.
"He woke up and he was thrown on the other side of the bus," Myles Pickar told WHDH-TV last night about his son. "The students who got really hurt were the ones that were where the glass broke. We just want to see him and talk to him and hug him."
Mathieu said there were no mechanical problems with the bus and no charges were expected.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
Province of Québec, Canada.14 people were injured after a bus carrying 39 students and five chaperones veered off the road and into a ditch South of Quebec City before overturning at about 9:30 p.m. local time yesterday evening. The bus was about 45 minutes from the city, close to the town of St. Patrice de Beaurivage

The bus was returning to the city with students from a day trip to watch the manufacture of maple syrup. 12 students and two chaperones spent the night in hospital, with the most serious injury being a broken collarbone suffered by a chaperone, who remained in hospital. All people on board were injured to varying degrees, but most sustained only small cuts and bruises.

Although most sources put the toll of injured at 14, some say 16. School officials and the Quebec police agreed that none of the injuries were life-threatening.

The students were all middle school students from The Wheeler School, a private school in Providence, Rhode Island. The head of the middle school described the students as "resilient" and as having "high spirits", and said that "they bounce back really quickly.".

Councillors were made available to parents and students.

It is thought the accident occurred when the driver lost control in a heavy storm. Ann Mathieu, a provincial police spokeswoman, said the weather at the time of the crash "was very, very rainy and the visibility was not too good." She said the crash happened when the bus skidded and the driver swerved to try to keep it on the road, causing it instead to overturn. She also said that charges are unlikely as a result of the incident and that no mechanical problems could be found with the bus. She told reporters that neither alcohol nor excessive speed were factors in the accident. The bus is thought to originate from Massachusetts as it has a Massachusetts license plate.