Highway Patrol Officer Denny Parunak said there were no injuries in a school bus wreck Tuesday afternoon. He said the driver, William Howard Pierce, traveling east on West Deep Ford Road around 4:15 p.m., appeared to have crossed the center line, went off the left shoulder, and the bus overturned.

Parunak said there were eight students on board. None were injured.

Parunak said the driver was shaken up but uninjured. He also said speed was not a factor and there were no other vehicles involved. He was unable to determine the cause of the accident at the time, and said the investigation is ongoing.

Ashe County School Superintendent Dr. Travis Reeves was on the scene along with an administrator from the high school, at which all eight students attend. He said a protocol is followed in such a scenario involving the bus supervisor contacting the central office which then contacts the administrator of the school(s) where involved students attend. That administrator is usually the principal or assistant principal, Reeves said. Paramedics are called along with the highway patrol, and students must be checked by paramedics before being released to parents. If the students are in good medical condition, Reeves said, parents can take them home and observe them.

Responding to the scene were the Lansing Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department and Blue Ridge Medical Transport.