Local authorities have released the name of a seven year old girl who was tragically killed on Friday morning after being hit by a school bus in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Hannah Martin, 7, was killed instantly after she was hit by a Lake Hamilton School bus at around 6.30am on Friday morning. The incident occurred on Old Dallas Road, just west of the town of Hot Springs and northwest of Pearcy.
According to the Garland County Sheriff’s Office, Martin was a second grade student at Lake Hamilton Elementary School. Although the name of the bus driver involved in the accident has been released, it is not yet clear whether charges will be filed against him.
The accident occurred on a street in a rural area with not street lights, early in the morning when it was still dark. It is thought that lack of visibility played a contributory role in accident, but the exact circumstances surrounding the incident are not known. It not clear whether Martin was in the road when the accident happened or whether the bus swerved off the road and hit her, as there are no eye witness reports.
In a press conference hosted by the Hamilton School District on Friday afternoon, Superintendent Steve Anderson said that the driver of the bus had been working for the Hamilton School District for more than five years and has had no previous accidents. Anderson says that charges have not yet been filed against the driver.
According to authorities, the bus driver knows the Martin family well and Hannah was friends with his own granddaughter. He is currently on paid leave with the district.
There were four children on board the bus when the incident happened. Although they realized that something was wrong, they did not know that another child had been injured and were not permitted to leave the bus until emergency vehicles had arrived to remove Martin’s body.
After the accident, alternative school district vehicles arrived to pick up these children and take them on to school. At the press conference, school officials reported that counselors will be available to all students that need help dealing with the tragic loss of one of their friends.
Hannah has two younger siblings that are not yet at school. Anderson and other local authorities have met with Hannah’s mother and stepfather and the closely knit Pearcy community has been vocal in their outpourings of support for the family.