The pickup truck driver involved in the Toms River school bus collision dies from his injuries.

Toms River Police identify the driver as 60 year old Thomas Grouss of Toms River. Police say that at around 2:26 p.m. Thursday, the pickup truck collided with the bus filled with children from Toms River Intermediate School East when it was attempting to make a left turn onto Yellowbank Road. The bus then struck a traffic stanchion and a parked car.

Police Chief Mike Mastronardy says the driver of the bus and students were quickly evacuated from the bus onto a residential lawn where they were triaged by emergency personnel. Eleven students and the bus driver were transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River and treated and released for minor injuries.

However, he says the key factor here is that all the students were wearing seatbelts and that greatly reduced the likelihood of more serious injuries.

He says many of the students were transported by another bus back to the intermediate school and released to parents. Some parents also arrived at the scene to pick up their childrenm while some students opted to walk home from the accident scene.

The investigation is being conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the Ocean County Sheriff's Office, Toms River Police Traffic Safety Unit and the New Jersey State Police.

Southbound Fischer Boulevard was closed fro over three hours between Shore Boulevard and Yellowbank Road while the accident was being investigated.

Some photos courtesy Patch of Toms River.  

Ilya Hemlin & Dan Alexander contributed to this report.

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