A bus crash early Monday killed one child and injured 45 other people, most of them children, when the driver lost control of the coach on Interstate 30 west of Benton, Arkansas State Police said.
The charter bus was carrying a youth all-star football team home from a championship game played over the weekend in Dallas. It was traveling to Memphis, Tennessee when it left the road and rolled over, police said.
During questioning, the driver told police she lost control of the vehicle, state police said in a statement.
Authorities received a call around 2:40 a.m. (3:40 ET) and found the bus on its side near the Hot Springs exit on I-30.
The children were between 8 and 10 years old and had chaperones accompanying them on the bus, state police spokesman Bill Sadler said. It does not appear that weather played a role in the crash.
“When troopers arrived at the scene, many of the children were already off of the bus,” Sadler said. “Some of them were stunned or had minor injuries.”
The injured were taken to hospitals in Saline and Pulaski counties. Two were airlifted, Sadler said.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock treated 26 patients, all between the ages of 9 and 13, in its emergency room, Chief Operating Officer Chanda Chacón said Monday afternoon.
The injuries were predominantly fractures and lacerations, Chacón said. By Monday afternoon, everyone was in stable condition – 22 patients had been released and four were admitted to the hospital, Chacón said.
Scott Shuttle Service of Somerville, Tennessee, operated the charter, police said.
The child’s cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner, Sadler said.
CNN’s Tina Burnside and Robin Meade contributed to this report.