Kiarra Gordon: Girl, 17, killed and six others injured after semi-truck crashes into school bus
SANDERS, ARIZONA: According to officials, a 17-year-old Arizona girl was killed and six others were injured when a semi-tractor trailer clashed with their school bus as they were on their way to a field trip. According to the State Department of Public Safety, 19 people were aboard the bus when it was rear-ended by a semi-tractor-trailer on Interstate 40 near milepost 328, Sanders around 9.30 am Sunday, August 28.
A relative identified the teen who died in the tragic collision as Kiarra Gordon. The girl's aunt, Falonna Ashley, said Gordon had just celebrated her seventeenth birthday in July and is survived by three younger brothers. The semi-tractor trailer collided with the school bus, pushing it into a van, according to Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) officials.
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Six other people on the bus were injured, four of them seriously. Their names and ages have yet to be revealed. It was also unknown whether the semi-tractor trailer and van drivers were injured. The students and staff members were all from Holbrook Indian School. They were on their way to Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation before the collision occurred.
There had been a rollover accident earlier in the day, and traffic on the highway had been moving slowly that morning, according to DPS officials. The Holbrook Indian School released a statement. "This is a very sad day for the Holbrook Indian School community; one of our students died, and six others were injured in a school bus accident this morning." "Our concerns now are for our parents and families as we uphold and grieve with them," the statement added. "We ask that you would be patient and respectful as we work through this as a school community, and we solicit your prayers on behalf of everyone impacted by this tragedy."
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Gordon's aunt Ashley announced her niece's tragic passing on Facebook. ''It is with deep sadness we announce the unexpected passing of our beloved Kiarra Gordon. She was a beautiful, sweet, smart, and talented young woman who was always a joy to be around. We lost her through a semi/bus accident today," she wrote. "This hurts so much.''
"She had a beautiful soul. She's from Wide Ruins, a small community in the Navajo Nation. She was focused on education and was thinking about what to do after high school," Ashley told Fox10 in a statement. "Volleyball was her favorite sport".