(Plymouth County, IA) – Officials with the Remsen-St. Mary’s School District are asking for the public’s prayers, after the bus carrying the girls high school basketball team was involved in a crash with a car, Saturday, on U-S Highway 75 near Plymouth County road C-80.

According to a Hinton Fire & EMS Facebook post by Fire Chief Cameron Peirce,, at approximately 12:53 p.m., Hinton Fire Rescue was dispatched to a motor vehicle collision involving a school bus and passenger vehicle, with reports of multiple injuries and a vehicle fire, at the intersection of Highway 75 and County Road C-80 in rural Hinton.

Upon arrival, crews found a passenger vehicle in the southbound lane fully involved on fire and a Remsen St. Mary’s school bus in the intersection with impact damage to the driver’s side. Multiple patients were identified. Firefighters immediately initiated patient care while simultaneously extinguishing the vehicle fire.

Due to the number of individuals requiring medical attention, a mass-casualty incident was declared. All patients were triaged according to injury severity and transported by available ambulance units.

The Sioux City Diocese says the bus was on its way home from playing a in a scrimmage at Dakota Dunes, when the crash occurred.Some of the accident victims were transported to hospital in Sioux Falls. A detour was established for traffic to go around the accident scene, where both southbound lanes were blocked.

Hinton Fire Rescue was assisted on scene by Sioux City Fire Rescue, Sioux City Police Department, Merrill Ambulance, Kingsley Ambulance, Sergeant Bluff Fire Rescue, Lawton Ambulance, Wings Air, the Iowa State Patrol, Hinton Police Department, Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office, Woodbury County Sheriffs Office, Stockton Towing, and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Additional details are currently not available.