PARIS — A car ran into a bus carrying approximately 25 elementary school students on Monday afternoon on Route 119. No one was injured.

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Paris Fire Department workers jack up the rear of an Oxford Hills School District bus Monday in order to free a car from under its bumper. The accident occurred Monday on Route 119. No one was hurt.

Lt. Michael Dailey of the Paris Police Department said the accident occurred at about 3:45 p.m. A 1998 Mazda Protege driven by 19-year-old Daechia Dow of West Paris struck the underside of a full-sized school bus driven by Marion Denbow, 53, of Norway.

“The driver of the vehicle basically said she didn't expect the bus would stop that soon and actually drove underneath the rear of the bus,” Dailey said.

The bus was carrying students home from the Paris Elementary School and was making a regular stop on the route when the accident occurred. The Paris Police Department, Paris Fire Department and PACE Ambulance responded to the scene. The road was reduced to a single lane of traffic while crews worked at the scene.

Dailey said he did a walk-through of the bus to talk with students, and found that none were hurt.

“They were all calm and kind of excited about it,” he said.

The children were removed from the bus while an attempt was made to drive it forward to free it from the car. The effort was unsuccessful, and another bus was called in.

The car was removed by jacking up the rear of the bus, and about the same time the new bus arrived, so students were able to board the original bus to continue on the route.

The bus was not damaged. Dailey estimated that the Protege had $3,000 damage to the hood and windshield.

mlangeveld@sunjournal.com