Fire and smoke filled a bus carrying local students back to Jacksonville from a church camp.
Dozens of people on the bus had to be rescued on the side of a highway.
Flames were shooting out of the bus as Cory Witt, a student supervisor, said he helped students escape through the windows.
“I was kind of physically throwing the kids. I felt bad about it, but I wanted them out quickly,” Witt said.
Flames were shooting out from the back of the bus when students tell me they were yelling at the driver to pull over. They were headed back to Jacksonville from church camp when the bus had electrical issues @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/JIZkxOEFbB
— Danielle Avitable (@Danielle_NBC4) July 3, 2018
The group was headed back from church camp and the bus was on the highway in South Carolina when, senior Brandon Russell said the bus caught fire.
“The engine exploded, which caused the tire to explode,” Russell said.
He said he was sitting above the tire that popped.
“At first, I thought, 'Oh, we are just on a rumble strip,'” Russell said.
Then smoke started to fill the inside of the bus
“That’s when we were all, like, 'There’s smoke. There’s smoke. There’s smoke,'” Russell said.
Witt said Forty-eight people were trapped inside after the driver pulled over too close to the guardrail, forcing the doors to stay closed.
“I was sitting right behind the driver and you could see the dash panel light up like a Christmas tree,” Witt said.
Students were trapped on the charter bus as smoke started to fill it. They had to jump out of the windows to escape the fire @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/0O3oKmpCZc
— Danielle Avitable (@Danielle_NBC4) July 3, 2018
People started screaming and he said he tried to get to the other students in the back of the bus.
“By the time I got midway through the bus, I could barely see. (The smoke) was so thick,” Witt said.
Other drivers stopped along the highway to help the students escape out the windows as fire started to engulf the bus.
Witt said everyone, including the driver, got out in less than a minute.
“Looking back at it, it’s a little bit terrifying to see the video and see what you were in and what you went through,” Witt said. “It all turned out OK and we are super thankful, blessed.”
Eleven people ended up having to go to the hospital to get checked out, but everyone is OK.
Russell said he believes an electrical issue caused the bus to catch fire.
Cox Media Group
