A charter bus carrying a Tennessee youth football team that had played a championship game in Dallas, Tex., over the weekend crashed in Central Arkansas early Monday morning, leaving one child dead, the authorities said.
At least 45 other people — mostly children — were injured in the bus crash, according to the Arkansas State Police. The injured have been taken to hospitals in Little Rock and Benton, Ark., a statement from the police said.
The police said the driver of the bus indicated in an initial statement that she lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll off Interstate 30, west of Benton, around 2:40 a.m.
The bus is owned by Scott Shuttle Service of Somerville, Tenn., the police said. According to records with the federal Department of Transportation’s Safety and Fitness Electronic Records system, the charter company has had no crashes in the last two years. A request for comment to the bus service was not immediately returned.
A state police spokesman, Bill Sadler, told CNN that the children on the bus were from 8 to 10 years old and accompanied by chaperones.
“When troopers arrived at the scene, many of the children were already off of the bus,” he said. “Some of them were stunned or had minor injuries.”
According to Fox 13 Memphis, a person identified as Coach Elliot with the football team said the team was part of the Orange Mound youth league.
Mayor Jim Strickland of Memphis shared his condolences on Twitter on Monday morning.
“On behalf of all Memphians, our hearts and prayers go out to the Orange Mound children and their families involved in this morning’s tragic bus accident in Arkansas,” Mr. Strickland said.
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