A school bus driver from Avenel was died following a collision with a sport-utility vehicle in Colts Neck on Tuesday.
COLTS NECK - A 62-year-old Avenel woman was the school bus driver who died after a collision with a sport-utility vehicle in the township on Tuesday afternoon, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday.
Lorraine Filozof, 62, of Avenel, was driving a school bus for Helfrich & Sons of Keansburg on Phalanx Road shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday when the bus collided head-on with a 2004 Dodge Duragno, prosecutor's office spokesman Charles Webster said via email.
The crash was still under investigation as of Wednesday afternoon, but Webster said it appears the 16-passenger bus was properly within the westbound lane of travel when it was struck by the Durango.
Filozof and two passengers - a 61-year-old male school bus aide from Hazlet and a juvenile student from Manalapan - were on the bus at the time of the crash, Webster said.
The school bus burst into flames following the collision.
All three occupants of the bus and the 77-year-old Colts Neck man who was driving the Durango were transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment of undisclosed injuries.
Filozof later died at the hospital, Webster said.
The school bus aide and student were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and later released, while the driver of the Durango - whose name was not released - was held overnight for observation, Webster said,
The Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team is conducting the investigation, with assistance from the Colts Neck and Middletown police departments.
The Colts Neck and Middletown first aid squads and MONOC paramedics also provided medical assistance at the scene.
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