(Sibley)– We’re learning additional details into an accident Monday that involved a Sibley-Ocheyedan school bus. Authorities now say the driver of that bus was flown to a Sioux Falls hospital. As we reported previously, none of the students on board were injured.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office reports that at about 4:00 p.m., 52-year-old Galen Habben of Sibley was driving a 2020 Thomas school bus southbound on Monroe Avenue or L30, a mile south of Sibley and four miles west. Deputies say 50-year-old Gregory Winkel of Ashton was driving a 2014 John Deere farm tractor pulling a manure spreader.
The report says that the tractor was turning into 1913 Monroe Avenue, and that Habben’s vision was obstructed due to dust being kicked up from the tractor. The bus then collided with the rear of the manure spreader.
Habben received incapacitating injuries and had to be extricated from the bus. He was transported by ambulance to the Sibley Airport where he was then flown to Sioux Falls by Avera Careflight. Winkel did not report any injuries. Eleven students who were on the bus were evaluated by EMS and did not have any injuries.
Damage to the Sibley-Ocheyedan school bus was estimated at $15,000; Winkel’s John Deere farm tractor sustained $10,000 in damages.
The Ashton ambulance and Sibley Fire Department also responded to the scene.
(Courtesy Community First Broadcasting station KIWA in Sheldon)
