A Blairsville woman was killed in a crash involving a school bus and a dump truck this morning in Derry Township.
State Police have confirmed that 54-year-old Deborah Bopp of Blairsville was behind the wheel of the Smith Transportation school bus involved in the crash at 7:15 in the morning near Auction Barn Road. There were no students on the bus at the time of the collision, but she was on Route 22 and had her lights on to pick up a 17-year-old Derry student when a tri-axle truck driven by 59-year-old Wesley White of Pittsburgh crashed into the bus. The impact pushed the bus into the Jersey barrier dividing Route 22 and destroying a portion of that barrier. State Police are also saying that Bopp had her seatbelt on, but was thrown from the bus. After the impact, White’s truck continued on until it went off the road and crashed into a model home at Long’s Homes on 22. White was airlifted to a Pittsburgh-area hospital for treatment of unknown injuries.
Derry School officials say that grief counselors are being made available to students.
