A community was left in shock and mourning last night after a tragic collision between a school bus and a dump truck claimed the life of an 11-year-old student and critically injured her two triplet sisters along with another 11-year-old classmate.
The accident, which occurred at 8 a.m. yesterday, also injured 14 other students from Chesterfield Elementary School.
“Our thoughts and prayers are extended to all of the families involved,” Chesterfield Police Chief Kyle Wilson stated during a news conference held at police headquarters.
According to State Police, the collision happened at a four-way intersection when the dump truck, traveling on Route 528, collided with the school bus, which was on Old York Road.
The student who lost her life in the crash was identified as sixth-grader Isabelle Tezsla. Her sisters, Sophie and Natalie, remain in critical condition at Cooper University Hospital in Camden. The girls are the daughters of State Police Sgt. Anthony Tezsla.
Another student, 11-year-old Jonathan Zdybel, is also in critical condition at Cooper University Hospital, according to hospital officials.
Pete Pernice, a resident living on Bordentown-Chesterfield Road, was upstairs in his home when he heard the crash and the subsequent chaos. Upon rushing outside, he found 15 children already evacuated from the bus, with a State Police officer on the scene and sirens approaching from all directions.
“I ran up to the sergeant and said, ‘We’ve got to get these kids out of the weather,'” Pernice recounted. His home quickly became an improvised triage center, with some students receiving treatment from emergency personnel at the scene while others stayed indoors, waiting for an ambulance or their parents.
Police confirmed that there were 25 students from kindergarten through sixth grade on the bus at the time of the crash. The 17 injured children were taken to several hospitals, including Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital-Hamilton, Capital Health Regional Medical Center, and Virtua-Mount Holly.
Officials at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital-Hamilton reported treating 10 children from the accident. Nine were released, while one child was transferred to The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick.
Last night, over 200 mourners gathered inside Chesterfield Baptist Church, with more people outside, for a silent vigil. Families sat together in quiet reflection, their sorrow marked by the sound of an organ, broken only by whispers and tears.
“It’s a small town. They were sisters. It’s sad, and we all hurt together,” said Karen Wainwright, a friend and neighbor of the Tezsla family.
The intersection where the accident occurred is regulated by stop signs and flashing lights. Police have not yet determined the cause of the accident.
“It’s still under investigation, and we haven’t made a full determination as to whether or not the bus was making any turns,” Wilson said. When asked about the intersection’s history with accidents, he noted that “this appears to be a rare occurrence.”
The dump truck hit the rear portion of the bus’s driver’s side, causing it to spin into a utility pole that supports the traffic light, with the pole embedding itself on the right side of the bus near the rear tires. The dump truck eventually came to a stop in a grassy area off Route 528, leaving muddy skid marks in its wake.
The bus driver was identified as 66-year-old John Tieman of Beverly, and the dump truck driver was identified as 38-year-old Michael Caporale of New Egypt. No charges have been filed at this time.
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