ALMA, Ark. (AP) - An Alma school bus went through an intersection Wednesday morning where a stop sign was missing and collided with a pickup truck, injuring a number of people.
Several children were taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, and four people in the pickup were hospitalized for treatment of more significant injuries, Arkansas State Police Trooper Chase Melder told The Associated Press.
Melder said the stop sign had been stolen or otherwise removed from the intersection of Gregory Chapel Road and Arkansas Highway 282. The bus was southbound on Gregory Chapel Road and drove into the highway, where the pickup hit it on the right front where the double doors are, Melder said.
"At the intersection, the way the bus was going there should have been a stop sign for the bus to stop. Someone removed the stop sign before the crash," Melder said. "I don't know who stole the stop sign, or took it."
Melder did not have a count of how many children were taken to the hospital.
The bus was able to stop a few feet after the collision, but the pickup traveled through a yard and took out a small tree before coming to rest. Neither vehicle rolled, Melder said.
Melder said the incident provides a lesson in how stealing traffic signs can be hazardous.
"This is a prime example of why not to do that," Melder said. "It could get people hurt."
A highway crew replaced the stop sign shortly after the crash.
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