Kindergarten student struck and killed by school bus while walking to school with his mother

MAMARONECK, N.Y. (AP) — A kindergarten student was struck and killed by a school bus on Thursday while walking to school with his mother in suburban New York, authorities said.

The crash happened just after 8:30 a.m. in the village of Mamaroneck in Westchester County.

The boy and his mother were walking to to Mamaroneck Avenue Elementary School when they were hit by a yellow minibus.

The child was killed and the mother was taken to a hospital for treatment, officials with the Mamaroneck Union Free School District said in a statement.

“There is nothing more difficult for a community to experience than the loss of life, and we know that everyone in the Mamaroneck and Larchmont communities is heartbroken by this news,” the school district officials said.

The Journal News reports that a Royal Coach Lines minibus was parked at the crash site about half a block from the school with a yellow backpack about 20 feet (6 meters) behind it. The bus was later towed and the backpack was removed and put in a police vehicle.

School district officials said counseling would be available at the school on Friday.

Royal Coach Lines, a regional school bus contractor, has not responded to an email seeking comment on the crash.