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A crash involving a school bus and a garbage truck in Spanish Fork occurred Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024.

Courtesy Spanish Fork Police Department

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A crash involving a school bus and a garbage truck in Spanish Fork occurred Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024.

Courtesy Spanish Fork Police Department

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Several student athletes from Southern Utah were taken to a hospital with minor injuries after the bus they were on collided head-on with a garbage truck in Spanish Fork, officials said.

The crash happened Thursday just after 3 p.m. at the intersection of 630 West and 400 North. The garbage truck was traveling east on 400 North, while the school bus was heading west on 400 North and was attempting to turn south toward the new Spanish Fork High School, a press release stated.

The bus was carrying a girls soccer team from Washington County who traveled to Utah County for multiple soccer games. They were en route to one of those games at Spanish Fork H.S. to be played Thursday evening, St. George News reported.

“It’s my understanding that three of those students received minor injuries and were transported to local hospitals,” Lt. Cory Slaymaker of the Spanish Fork Police Department told reporters. “The driver of the garbage truck was also injured but he was not transported.”

Springville resident Jessica Andersen and her two sons were walking back to their car at a nearby church after swimming lessons when she saw the crash.

She called 911 as screams could be heard following the collision. “I’m a nurse, so I just had my kids sit on the curb and ran over with another lady, and we helped get the girls out of the bus, because they were pretty traumatized,” Andersen said.

Seeing an incident of that magnitude also was shocking for her own children. “It was definitely scary, but we talked about it,” Andersen said.

She praised the swift actions of first responders, fellow citizens and people from Spanish Fork High School who rushed over to help.

“There were probably a handful of them who ended up coming down from the high school to see how they could help, which I thought was pretty cool. I think I even saw some girls walking like from the Spanish Fork team — (I’m) assuming (the) soccer team — walking from the high school,” Andersen told the Daily Herald.

Officials say the crash is under investigation.

The Washington County School District was said to be working with local school officials to provide another bus to transport the visiting soccer team to their next destination, according to St. George News.