GRAHAM, Wash. — The driver killed in a crash involving a school bus in Graham on Thursday evening has been identified as 79-year-old Manfred Bahle.
According to a report released by the Washington State Patrol (WSP) overnight, Bahle was the only person in the car that collided with a school bus on SR 161 near Frontier Park.
Bahle was initially reported to be in critical condition, but his injuries were too severe, and he died at the scene.
Hundreds were gathered at Frontier Park for a night market when the crash happened.
“It was devastating,” Cindus Al-Mansour, the market organizer, said.
One vendor told KIRO 7 she sold dog treats to the driver of the pickup truck just minutes before he was killed.
“You just hear, all of a sudden, a boom,” said Kathy, who asked that we not publish her last name. “It’s just sad because we’ve been coming up here for two years, and he’s been buying from us for two years.”
Al-Mansour told KIRO 7 that people at the market rushed to try to help the man, but it was too late.
“Our community stopped what they were doing and went out to help,” she said. “We had people doing CPR, food trucks all donated to the thirty children who were in the bus.”
According to WSP's report, there were 36 Eatonville School District children on the bus at the time of the crash, along with one adult bus driver. WSP confirmed that only one student was hurt, a 14-year-old who was taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.
The bus driver, a 59-year-old woman from Roy, was injured as well, but she was not taken to the hospital.
WSP is still investigating the cause of the collision. The school bus driver may face charges depending on the results of that investigation.
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