7-Year-Old Girl, Driver Killed; 7 Others Hospitalized In School Bus Crash

A child and a bus driver were killed in a crash that also hospitalized seven other children on Highway 58 in Meigs County, Tennessee on Tuesday afternoon.

The student was identified as a 7-year-old girl, but officials have not yet released her or the woman driving the bus' names as of Wednesday morning, the Tennessee Highway Patrol confirmed via NewsChannel 9. A service electric truck was driving north on Highway 58 when the driver lost control and overcorrected, leading to the vehicle reentering the highway and skidding into the school bus head on in an opposite lane.

THP confirmed 22 students were on Bus #12-1 when the crash took place and seven were transported to Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga, with at least one in critical condition, NewsChannel 9 reports.

Meigs County Sheriff Jackie Melton held a press conference updating the status of the crash and said the incident "really touched home," NewsChannel 9 reports.

Superintendent Clint Baker said the state's Department of Mental Health and Meigs County crisis team would be available to help any students, teachers and school bus drivers through the grieving process amid the tragic crash.

"Never in your wildest dreams do you think when you go out the door that you'll deal with something like this," Baker said. "It's a tragedy - no other way to describe it."

Photo: Tennessee Highway Patrol Chattanooga