Madera Unified School District employee badly hurt by bus
DJ Becker/The Madera Tribune Madera Unified School District officials gather near where a bus maintenance worker was reportedly rolled over by a bus Thursday morning. The man was reported in serious condition at Community Regional Medical Center.
A Madera Unified School District employee was seriously injured Thursday morning, reportedly after being rolled over by the wheels of an empty school bus in the district's bus maintenance yard in the 1200 block of Gill Avenue.
MUSD officials at the incident largely declined to comment, acknowledging briefly in a written statement that an employee had been injured at 6 a.m. in its transportation yard and taken by first responders to the hospital.
How the incident happened remains under investigation by the Madera Police Department. Witnesses, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the incident happened as bus maintenance personnel serviced or checked the school buses prior to departing the maintenance yard.
The man was apparently underneath the bus, looking at the brakes when it unexpectedly moved and the wheels rolled over all, or part of his chest, they said. The victim was conscious and talking when he was pulled from under the bus.
A steady stream of shaken and visibly upset personnel walked or drove away from the transportation yard. Some bus departures and the pickup of students on some Madera routes were also reportedly delayed. No students were present at the bus maintenance facility.
The MUSD fleet of approximately 80 buses travels 60 separate routes transporting about 5,000 students daily, according to their website.
