SUV driver airlifted after crash with Indiana school bus carrying 23 students

LAKE COUNTY, Ind. - A 16-year-old boy was hospitalized after an SUV collided with a school bus carrying 23 middle school students Friday in northwest Indiana, authorities said.

What we know:

The crash happened shortly after 3 p.m. on East 121st Avenue west of Decatur Street, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators said a Hyundai SUV traveling east crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a school bus traveling west on 121st Avenue.

The SUV driver, a 16-year-old from Lake of the Four Seasons, became trapped inside the vehicle and was airlifted by medical helicopter to the University of Chicago Hospital, authorities said.

The bus driver, a 56-year-old woman from Crown Point, was taken to a local hospital for mandatory Department of Transportation drug testing, the sheriff’s department said.

The bus was carrying students from a nearby middle school. Two children reported minor injuries and were evaluated at the scene.

What we don't know:

Authorities have not released the condition of the teenage driver, and it remains unclear whether the bus driver was injured.

What's next:

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.