An early-morning accident occurred around 7:20 a.m. in rural Plymouth County. A Le Mars Community School bus and a semi collided at County Road K64 and 120th Street. The location is between the towns of Oyens and Carnes. 

The Le Mars Superintendent, Dr. Steve Webner, issued the following statement to the Cherokee Chronicle Times: “This morning a Le Mars Community School District School bus was involved in an accident.  There were four students on the bus at that time.  We can confirm there were non-critical, non-life threatening injuries and several were taken to the hospital.  The district is cooperating with law enforcement officials with the investigation into this matter.  We would like to thank our local safety officials for their quick and effective response.”

The investigation is being conducted by the Iowa State Patrol who plan to release a crash report once it is concluded.

Update: The Iowa State Patrol investigation noted that the school bus was traveling westbound on 120th Street when driver, Raymond Holbrook, 61, failed to yield the right of way to the semi traveling southbound on K64. The semi, driven by Brian Machmann, 67, of Madelia, Iowa, struck the bus on the passenger side and both vehicles ended up in the west ditch. Holbrook and Machmann were transported to Floyd Valley Hospital.