Greg Gerber posted on November 24, 2008 15:35
SAFFORD, Ariz. -- Tragedy struck the residents of the Sunrise Village & RV Mobile Home Resort on Tuesday afternoon, when 8-year-old Elizabeth Bates was killed after being hit by a truck.
Bates had gotten off her school bus at the stop inside the resort shortly before being hit.
“It’s just pure tragedy,” said Safford Police Chief John Griffin. “We think this was purely accidental. We had a little 8-year-old girl that made an 8-year-old decision that was catastrophic for everybody involved.”
Griffin said, due to his office’s preliminary investigation findings, it appeared that she attempted to cross the street behind the bus after it was pulling away from the bus stop. A white work truck had stopped for the bus at a stop sign facing south but began to head west after the bus turned off its flashing red lights and began heading east inside Sunrise Village.
According to Griffin, after going over a speed bump as the two vehicles passed each other, the truck emerged from the other side of the school bus and struck Bates. Griffin said there appeared to be no way the truck or Bates could have seen each other.
Griffin estimated the driver’s speed to be about 5 mph and that he said he never even saw the girl. The driver was not given any citations at this time.
SOURCE: Eastern Arizona Courier