Roosevelt kids on bus that hit pedestrians

A tour bus carrying Roosevelt schoolchildren on a field trip to Connecticut struck four pedestrians Friday morning, authorities said.

The crash happened at a rest stop in Darien, Conn., at about 9:30 a.m. after the bus driver mistook the accelerator for the brake, according to a police report.

"As one of the buses was coming to stop, apparently the bus lurched forward," said Roosevelt school district spokeswoman Vivian Isom.

The bus collided with the four pedestrians, all residents of Queens, leaving two of them with injuries serious enough to require hospitalization, authorities said.

One of the victims remained hospitalized as of midday Friday, police said.

About 30 elementary school children were aboard the tour bus en route to an aquarium for a daylong trip, Isom said.

Neither the driver nor the children were hurt. The pedestrians -- ranging in age from 55 to 77 -- suffered injuries, including leg and head injuries, police said.

Isom said she doesn't believe that the schoolchildren were able to see the pedestrians get hit. The children were later loaded onto a van, which continued onward to the Mystic Aquarium, she said.

The bus that struck the pedestrians was one of three buses carrying a total of 90 students from Centennial Avenue School.

With Gary Dymski