Several student-athletes from Southern Utah were taken to the hospital with minor injuries after the bus they were on collided head-on with a garbage truck in Spanish Fork, officials said.

The accident happened shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of 630 West and 400 North. The garbage truck was traveling east on 400 North while the school bus was traveling west on 400 North and attempting to turn south toward the new Spanish Fork High School, a news release said.

On the bus was a girls soccer team from Washington County that was traveling to Utah County for several soccer games. They were on their way to one of those games at Spanish Fork HS, which was scheduled to take place Thursday night, St. George News reported.

“It is my understanding that three of those students sustained minor injuries and were transported to local hospitals,” Spanish Fork Police Lt. Cory Slaymaker told reporters. “The garbage truck driver was also injured, but he was not transported.”

Jessica Andersen of Springville was walking back to her car with her two sons after swimming lessons at a nearby church when she noticed the accident.

She called 911 when screams were heard after the collision. “I’m a nurse, so I just left my kids sitting on the curb and ran over with another woman, and we helped get the girls off the bus because they were pretty traumatized,” Andersen said.

It was also a shock for her own children to witness an incident of this magnitude. “It was definitely scary, but we talked about it,” Andersen said.

She praised the quick actions of first responders, fellow citizens and people from Spanish Fork High School who rushed to help.

“Probably a handful of them came from high school to see how they could help, which I thought was pretty cool. I think I even saw a couple of girls from the Spanish Fork team – (I assume the) football team – come from high school,” Andersen told the Daily Herald.

According to officials, the accident is currently under investigation.

According to St. George News, the Washington County School District worked with local school officials to provide another bus to transport the visiting football team to their next destination.

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