8 children taken to hospitals after bus crash near Kingston

Eight children were taken to hospitals on Thursday after their school bus crashed with a pickup truck west of the Twin Cities, authorities said.

The bus was carrying 17 students from the Dassel Cokato School District when it collided with the truck at the intersection of Meeker County Road 21 and Highway 15 near Kingston.

None of the eight children who were taken to two different hospitals was seriously injured, said Lt. Eric Roeske of the Minnesota State Patrol.

Roeske said there was thick fog in the area at the time, and visibility was less than an eighth of a mile.

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The bus was traveling east on County 21 and would have had to stop at Highway 15, Roeske said. Authorities are still investigating what happened.

"We're looking at all aspects, fog, speed, any indication that might lead us to draw some conclusions as to why this happened," he said.

Because the crash involved a school bus, investigators will also inspect the bus.

Kingston is located about 64 miles west of Minneapolis.