School bus aide killed in rollover crash outside Houston
WALLER COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) - An educational aide is dead after a school bus carrying students with special needs rolled over on a Texas road.
A Hempstead Independent School District bus was carrying four students Friday afternoon on the way home when it rolled over and crashed in the rural outskirts of Waller County, Texas. Abigail Ragston, a 59-year-old bus aide, was killed in the crash.
“It overcorrected and rolled, and when it rolled, it rolled from one end of the roadway to the other side,” said Sgt. Erik Burse with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Abigail Ragston, a native of Hempstead, is one of 14 siblings. She is survived by four grown children and seven grandchildren.
“I’m thankful to God for the years that he gave us together, and if I could say something to Abigail, I’d tell her to come back, if she could come back,” said her husband, Frederick Ragston.
Her husband says Abigail Ragston worked for the school district for 20 years and loved working with students.
“She was doing what she loved to do, and I’ll just say that we left this morning with our normal routine: ‘I love you. Have a good day.’ And you just never know when your loved one is not going to come back home,” Frederick Ragston said.
Three of the four students on the bus were taken to the hospital following the crash. A high school student was airlifted to the hospital in serious condition. A 6-year-old and a 9-year-old were taken by ambulance to a different hospital.
The bus driver was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Investigators say they will be working to determine what caused the driver to lose control and overcorrect. There were seat belts on the bus, but it’s unknown who was wearing them.
The school district released a statement saying it is cooperating with the investigation.
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