8 hurt in school-bus crash in Burlington Twp.

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a crash Tuesday morning involving a school bus and a car in Burlington Township that left seven elementary-school students and the car's driver injured.

All eight were released after receiving treatment at area hospitals.

The bus carrying 15 students was on its way to Fountain Woods Elementary School about 8:15 when it was hit on the front passenger-entrance side by a white Toyota Camry at Salem Road and Cynwyd Drive, officials said.

Chief Kevin A. Shoppas of the Burlington Township Police Department said there was a stop sign at Cynwyd, where the bus was preparing to turn left onto Salem. The Toyota driver, whose name was not released, was heading north on Salem, where the speed limit is 35 m.p.h.

The intersection, in the middle of a residential neighborhood, is not considered a dangerous location, he said.

After a preliminary investigation, Shoppas said it was not known whether citations or criminal charges would be filed.

Christopher Manno, superintendent of Burlington Township schools, said seven students were taken to two hospitals for treatment of minor injuries. Six were released by 10:15 a.m. The last student was released later in the day. The Toyota driver was reported to have the most serious injuries, officials said.

"I was greatly relieved that all the injuries were characterized as minor," Manno said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

The eight uninjured students on the bus were taken to the third-to-fifth-grade school, where they were checked out by the nurse, screened by a counselor, and united with their parents, Manno said.

Giovanna Barber, who was walking her dog with a friend, she stopped to look at the vehicles at the scene. Her 11-year-old daughter had been waiting for the bus to go to Fountain Woods.

"Thank goodness. It would have been the next stop," Barber said.

"My son was shaken," said Heather Scotto d'Antuono, adding that her 11-year-old, who was waiting at the same stop, stayed home from school.