Nearly two dozen individuals, mostly junior high students, were hospitalized after a bus carrying a football team to a game crashed Saturday near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

21 of the 28 people on board went to the hospital.

The bus carried 25 Aliquippa Junior High students and three adults.

More from the Associated Press:

Economy Borough Police Chief Michael O’Brien said he didn’t have information on the medical status of those taken to hospitals.

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O’Brien said he understood the bus turned on its side during the crash but came back upright as the students were evacuating the vehicle.

The police chief said the crash occurred in a tough spot in the road. “It’s on a bad bend,” O’Brien said. “It’s being investigated now to determine what happened.”

A Facebook page for the Aliquippa Junior High football team said each player was being evaluated and asked for “a thought or prayer for each player or coach that was traveling this morning.”

According to reports, one student was airlifted to Allegheny General Hospital and two others were taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital.

Some students were transported to the hospital by their parents for evaluation.

Daily Mail noted:

A Facebook post from the school later reassured families that ‘the team has left the scene of the earlier bus accident’.

‘Each player is being evaluated. Please take a moment to send a thought or prayer for each player or coach that was traveling this morning,’ the post read.

Parents were encouraged to go to the Ambridge fire station to reunite with their children.

The crash came just four days after students returned to class for the new school year on Thursday.

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Only last week, on August 19, the team had been celebrating Day 2 of preseason training camp, posting photos of players on the field in their red and black uniforms.

CBS Pittsburgh provided additional coverage:

 

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