5 injured in Friday morning crash involving school bus near Front Royal

A Warren County Public School system bus was involved in a collision Friday morning north of Front Royal. (Stock photo, taken by Norma Jean Shaw.)

FRONT ROYAL — An early-morning accident near Front Royal Friday, involving a Warren County school bus, sent five people to the hospital, including an 11-year-old boy.

Virginia State Police Spokesman Sgt. Les Tyler said in a telephone interview that the chain-reaction accident occurred at 6:40 a.m. in the 5600-block of Winchester Road, near its intersection with Route 802.

Tyler said the bus, being driven by Tracy L. Lawson, 46, of Front Royal, was stopped to pick up a student when she was struck from the rear by a 2012 Ford pickup, which had been pushed into the bus by a 2011 General Freightliner tractor trailer, being driven by Tommy Ray Seldonridge,71, of Frankford, WV.

The pickup truck driver, Jason C. Johnson, 63, of Front Royal, and his two passengers, Angelique Hanna, 30 and Mark Lewis, 58, were transported to Warren Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, according to Virginia State Trooper J. J. Orr, who was on scene at the incident.

Orr also reported that Ms. Lawson, the juvenile bus passenger and Seldonridge were all transported to Warren Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.

Tyler said Seldonridge was cited for following too closely.

The Warren County Fire and Rescue Department and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office assisted in handling the accident scene, which was cleared around 8:15 a.m.