A Harrisburg Public Schools teacher and coach — whose wife and in-laws are from this area — died Thursday after a truck hit the bus he was driving head-on in northern Boone County.
The crash happened at about 2:30 p.m. just west of the intersection with North Everett Carr Road when a westbound four-door Dodge Ram pickup truck crossed the center line and hit the bus, Boone County Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp said. The bus was taking five girls – three middle school students and two high school students – on the Harrisburg cross country team to a meet in Moberly when the crash happened, Blomenkamp said. Both the bus and the pickup were lying on their sides just south of the road after the crash.
Harrisburg Superintendent Steve Combs said in an emailed statement to patrons that the crash killed Brian Simpson, 37. Simpson was a history teacher and coached the district’s baseball, cross-country and quiz bowl teams.
He is the husband of Jennie Holland Simpson, an HHS alum, and the son-in-law of Jim and Jo Holland of Bucyrus.
School was cancelled Friday at the district.
Four girls escaped the bus through the rear door and the escape hatch on top of the bus, Blomenkamp said, and one was pulled out by a firefighter while the bus was on fire. Four were taken to a hospital with minor to moderate injuries. The driver of the Ram was taken by helicopter with serious injuries to University Hospital after firefighters cut off the roof of the truck to get him out.