Paramus school bus driver denies making U-turn in horrific crash, son says
PARAMUS — The driver of the school bus that collided with a dump truck in a horrific crash on Thursday has been identified as a 77-year-old retiree.
A source close to the investigation not authorized to speak about the case confirmed to New Jersey 101.5 that Hudy Muldrow Sr. was behind the wheel of the school bus operated by the Paramus school district when it was hit by a truck on Route 80 in Mount Olive with such force the chassis became separated. A student and teacher were both killed in the crash.
Department of Transportation officials who saw video of the Thursday morning crash described it as one of the worst images they have ever seen. The footage, which was recorded by a traffic camera perched on an overpass, shows the bus trying to cross three lanes of traffic, seemingly to get to a paved median cut-through reserved for emergency vehicles, they said.
Muldrow's son, Hudy Muldrow Jr., told CBS New York his father denied trying to make the cutout in the median to change direction. His son told the news station his father is conscious and recovering.
Forty-three fifth-graders and chaperones on board for the trip to Waterloo Village were injured; teacher Jennifer Williamson and 10-year-old Miranda Vargas were killed.
Vargas was laid to rest on Monday at a funeral in Clifton.
Eleven-year-old Brendan O'Callaghan is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday for a fractured temple bone. He also has a punctured lung and a broken collarbone, according to his father. His nose will have to be reconstructed.
The Morris County Prosecutor's Office on Monday would not disclose the conditions of any of the adults or children injured and said their investigation is ongoing.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.
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