BASTROP COUNTY, Texas — A 5-year-old boy was among the two people killed in a school bus crash outside of Austin, Texas, following a field trip on Friday afternoon.
On Monday, Hays CISD identified the preschooler as Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, who the district said loved his family, dinosaurs, the color green, and going to school.
Ulises reportedly died of his injuries suffered in Friday’s crash along State Highway 21 near the Travis/Bastrop County line, about 50 miles east of downtown Austin.
The district said the bus was carrying 44 pre-kindergarten students from Tom Green Elementary School and 11 adults returning from a field trip to the Bastrop Zoo.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Child, man killed after school bus carrying 44 preschoolers crashes outside Austin, Texas: DPS
A school bus returning 44 pre-K students from Bastrop Zoo crashed on State Highway 21 outside Austin, Texas, killing a child and a man, officials say.
According to the district, the bus was hit by a cement truck that swerved into the bus’ lane of traffic.
Charges have not been filed against that driver.
Another driver, identified as 33-year-old Ryan Wallace from Bastrop, Texas, also died as a result of the crash. Authorities said Wallace was driving a Hyundai, not a Dodge Charger as initially stated.
Officials said a total of 51 people were injured in the crash, though their conditions are unknown.
Tom Green Elementary was closed on Monday, and the district said counselors would be available for students and staff members.
“Ulises was a child who was filled with a lot of happiness and he often shared it with others,” Naira (Dina) Solís Shears, the 5-year-old’s pre-K bilingual teacher, said in a statement. “He had a talent for drawing and his favorite thing to draw was dinosaurs. He could almost completely spell the word dinosaur, which demonstrates how smart he was. He always had a dinosaur drawn on all of the assignments he turned in. He liked to tell stories and shared many with his friends and family. Above all – he was a loving child.”
The district shared the family’s GoFundMe to help with Ulises’ funeral and a general Tom Green GoFundMe to help with the funeral, medical, and other unanticipated expenses.
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