Caught on Video: Elementary School Girl Dragged by School Bus
— -- Shocking video captured an elementary school girl in Louisville, Kentucky, getting dragged by her school bus.
On Friday afternoon, a Jefferson County Public School bus was letting off a young girl who was 5 or 6 years old, when "apparently her backpack got stuck in the door," Louisville Metro Police Department spokesperson Dwight Mitchell told ABC News today.
"The bus driver didn't know that," and the girl was dragged about 100 feet, Mitchell said.
Witness Esther Karschner said she didn't see the girl step off the bus, but saw the girl's legs hanging out of the bus as it drove down the road. Karschner also said she saw a car speed alongside the bus, honking to try to stop it.
"I saw a car go flying by behind the bus real fast," Karschner said. "Shortly after the car stopped the bus. Her bookbag was caught on the bottom of the door when she got out.
"The bus driver got out and they called the police," she said. "It wasn't a very pretty sight."
Karschner said the girl's torso had been in the bus, but her legs were dragging. While police said the girl was dragged about 100 feet, Karschner estimates the total distance was about 600 to 1,000 feet.
"It's very frightening," Karschner said. "She was a little trooper. She was of course probably in shock."
The young girl was hospitalized to be treated for road rash to her legs, Mitchell said. Her injuries were non-life-threatening, he added.
Mitchell said he doesn't know what got the bus driver to stop, but he is "thankful that nothing was more serious to the young lady."
Mitchell said he did not know her condition today.
According to ABC affiliate WHAS-TV, it was a neighbor's surveillance camera that caught the terrifying ordeal.
The police department is still investigating, Mitchell said.
School officials are also investigating, according to WHAS-TV. The Jefferson County Public School District did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment.
