Cops: Driver, kids escape injury in school bus crash

A mini-school bus carrying kids to camp overturned after a collision with a car in Woodbury early Friday, police said, but no one was injured.

"I really got very scared," the driver, Robert Atanasio of Valley Stream, said. "We were lucky . . . Thank God, I only had two kids, because the bus turned over."

Initial police reports from the scene suggested four people -- the two drivers and the two children, who were bound for a summer camp at Hofstra University -- had been injured. But police said EMTs evaluated the four at the scene and found no serious injuries.

The age and identities of the children were not known.

The bus was being operated by Veteran Transportation Co. The car involved was a Volvo station wagon. The identity of the Volvo driver also was not known.

The crash occurred near the intersection of Plainview Road and Shadow Lane at 8:10 a.m., police said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Pictures and video from the scene showed damage to the right front end of the Volvo and showed the bus partially turned over -- its driver-side down on the pavement.

"I got really very scared because I didn't know how to release my . . . the belt . . . and somebody was here, a witness . . . he opened the emergency door in the back and let the kids out," Atanasio said.

With Jim Staubitser