9-year-old on bicycle pulled under rear axle of school bus in Vancouver

A 9-year-old Ellsworth Elementary School student riding his bike was dragged under an Evergreen Public Schools bus in east Vancouver on Tuesday morning, according to the Vancouver Fire Department and the school district.

About 7:20 a.m., Vancouver Fire arrived at Southwest 10th Street and Ellsworth Road where, according to firefighters, a student was “entangled in his bicycle under the rear axle of the bus.”

According to emergency radio traffic monitored in The Columbian newsroom, the bike was entangled in the rear axle of the bus. However, the student was not pinned.

Fire crews used wood and a ladder truck to stabilize and lift the bus to extricate the child, who was then taken to a Portland area pediatric hospital to be evaluated and treated for leg injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

A spokesperson for Evergreen Public Schools said there was one student passenger on the bus with the driver at the time of the crash. Neither the passenger nor the driver were injured.

Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said the bus was making a right turn onto Southeast 10th Street from Southeast Ellsworth Road. The student on the bike was traveling north on the sidewalk before crossing Southeast 10th Street and hit the right side of the school bus, just behind the door.

Police said the bus driver was not at fault and was not cited.

Ellsworth Elementary School Principal Alex Schiewe notified families of the incident Tuesday morning and said school counselors would be available for students and staff.