(Fenton)– The collision of a pickup and school bus owned by the Sentral-Fenton school district sent 15 people to the hospital this (Thurs.) morning. It happened just before 8:00 a.m. at the intersection of two gravel roads near the Kossuth/Palo Alto county line.
Sentral Principal Chris Paulson says 13 students were taken by ambulance to hospitals in either Algona or Emmetsburg. The bus driver, Kenneth Bierstedt of Fenton, was taken by private vehicle to the Kossuth Regional Health Center. All sustained minor injuries. The driver of the pickup, David Berkland of Fenton, was taken to the Palo Alto County Hospital in Emmetsburg and transferred by air to a Mason City hospital with a broken leg.
Paulson says the impact of the crash caused both the bus and pickup to roll.
Rescue crews from Algona, Ringsted, Emmetsburg, Fenton and Graettinger were called to the scene along with ambulances from Algona and Emmetsburg.
Bierstedt was charged with failure to yield in an uncontrolled intersection.
The mishap was investigated by the Palo Alto and Kossuth County Sheriff’s offices and the Iowa State Patrol.
