Five-Year-Old Dies After Georgia School Bus Crashes Into Two Trees in Liberty County, Injuring Classmates and Driver on Morning Route

HINESVILLE, GA — A 5-year-old child died after a school bus carrying 22 passengers crashed into two trees in southeast Georgia early Thursday morning, according to state authorities. The wreck happened around 6:50 a.m. near Highway 196 and Ray Road in Liberty County, west of Hinesville.

Georgia State Patrol identified the child as Cambria Shuman of Hinesville. Investigators said the bus driver lost control, the vehicle ran off the road, dropped into a ditch and then struck a tree. State police said the impact caused the bus to cave in on passengers and tree branches to enter the vehicle.

Bus left the roadway before hitting a ditch and trees

Authorities said the bus was traveling on a morning route when it veered off the roadway. After entering the ditch, it hit one tree and then collided with another, creating the violent crash that killed the child and injured others on board.

The location is in a rural part of Liberty County, a coastal Georgia county that includes Hinesville and Fort Stewart. Officials have not publicly said what caused the driver to lose control, and the crash remains under investigation by state police.

Charges are pending, according to investigators. That means authorities have not yet said whether the driver or any other person could face criminal or traffic-related charges tied to the wreck.

Driver taken to Savannah after being trapped in the bus

The driver, 62-year-old Evelyn Rodriguez of Hinesville, was trapped inside the bus after the crash, officials said. Emergency crews later extricated her and took her to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah.

A Liberty County Emergency Management official said Rodriguez suffered the most serious injuries among the people hurt in the crash. State police did not give a full breakdown of her condition, but the description indicates she was injured more severely than the other passengers.

The school bus crash involved students and an adult driver, and the injuries extended beyond the fatality. Authorities said the bus struck with enough force to deform the vehicle and push branches inside the passenger area.

Students taken to Liberty Regional and Fort Stewart medical facilities

Other injured students were taken to Liberty Regional Medical Center in Hinesville and Winn Army Community Hospital in Fort Stewart. Police said those students had “multiple injuries,” but the agencies did not immediately release a complete list of their conditions.

Winn Army Community Hospital said 13 of the students were described as “attentive and alert.” That update suggested that at least some of the injured children were responsive after the crash, though officials did not say how many total students were treated there.

No additional details were immediately released about the severity of the injuries among the other passengers. The bus carried 22 people in all, making the crash a mass-casualty event for the local school community.

Liberty County schools promise grief counselors as community mourns

The Liberty County School System said the bus is being investigated by state police and that grief counselors will be available to students and families coping with the loss. In a statement, the district expressed sympathy for the child’s family and acknowledged the sudden shock of the morning crash.

School officials did not immediately announce any broader changes to transportation service or school operations. Their focus, for now, is on supporting the people affected by the wreck and cooperating with investigators as they reconstruct what happened on the route.

Questions remain about what caused the crash and what comes next

State police have not yet said why the bus left the road or whether mechanical trouble, driver error, road conditions or another factor played a role. Those details will be central to the investigation as officials review the scene, the vehicle and the sequence of events leading up to the collision.

For now, authorities have confirmed a child’s death, serious injuries to the driver and additional injuries to students. The crash has left Liberty County families waiting for more answers while emergency crews, school officials and investigators continue their work.

The case remains active, with possible charges still under review and no final determination yet announced on the cause of the wreck.