WOONSOCKET - Two people were injured Monday when a vehicle and a school bus collided near Woonsocket.
According to Tony Mangan, public information officer with the Department of Public Safety, there were passengers on the school bus, but none was injured.
Mangan said Corey Flatten, a 30-year-old from Mitchell, was driving the bus, a 2005 Chevrolet bus for the Sanborn Central School District. Around 3:45 p.m. Monday, Flatten was westbound on S.D. Highway 34, approaching the west junction with S.D. Highway 37, which is about 3 miles east of Woonsocket.
Kimberly Rettig, a 58-year-old from Mitchell, was driving a 2013 Nissan Altima south on Highway 37 approaching the same intersection. Mangan said Rettig’s vehicle stopped at the stop sign and was preparing to turn east onto Highway 34, when it collided with the bus.
Rettig suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries and was transported by ambulance to Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell. She was not wearing a seat belt. The lone passenger in her vehicle, Charlotte Heida, 77, of Mitchell, suffered minor injuries and transported herself to the hospital. She and Flatten were wearing seat belts.
Agencies responding to the crash were the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks; Sanborn County Sheriff’s Office; and the Highway Patrol. Mangan said the Highway Patrol is investigating the crash, and charges are pending.
