Students injured in school bus crash WATCH THE VIDEO

Several students were injured Friday morning when a Hillsboro City School bus overturned on state Route 124 near North Shore Drive. 

Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward said that the county handled the crash that occurred around 6:45 a.m. as "a critical incident, as far as fire and EMS. All County squads were dispatched to the location for transport and triage."

Ward said he did not believe any of the injuries were life threatening, and were mostly scraped, cuts and possible broken bones. 

Twenty-one Hillsboro High School students were aboard the bus and several students and the bus driver were transported to Highland District Hospital.

Ward said the bus was the only vehicle involved, and icy roadways may have been a factor. 

"The bus did go off the side of the road, where it overturned and came to rest on its side," Ward said. 

The incident is being investigated by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and is being assisted by the Highland County Sheriff's Office, and other Highland County agencies. 

"Parents came to the scene to pick up their children," Ward said. "It's just one of those unfortunate things. Fire, EMS and law enforcement responded appropriately."

The driver had not been interviewed yet, Ward said, and information is pending further investigation. 

Hillsboro City Schools Superintendent Rick Earley, who was at the scene, said Friday was a difficult day, but thanks to the response of bystanders, and heroic students, and a quick response by law enforcement and EMS, the day could have been a lot worse. 

"It has been a nightmare. It's one of those days you don't look forward to as a superintendent," Earley told The Highland County Press, as crews worked to clear the school bus from the scene. "We're very thankful we didn't have any major injuries."

Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education Superintendent Laura Bagshaw said that the site of the crash was in front of  the home Kristie and Rick Cornele. Kristie is an elementary school teacher, according to Bagshaw. 

"We were so lucky this happened in front of a place where there were wonderful people who responded, who made sure the kids got out, and took the kids into a warm place to wait," Bagshaw said.

Earley said that two students who were aboard the bus, whose names were not immediately available, stepped up to make sure that everyone was able to exit the bus, and he is proud of their efforts. 

"People were excellent," Earley said. "Rick Cornele and his wife did an excellent job opening up their facility, to get the kids in where it was warm, so parents could get to their kids. When this is all over we will have a debriefing to see how we could have handled things better - because you can always handle things better. Overall I was very, very pleased, at this point, on how the situation was handled. Law enforcement did an excellent job. The deputies, the EMTs, I can't say enough about them."