COCHECTON – Four students, ages seven to 17 and a bus aide sustained minor injuries when a small school bus ran off the pavement on Route 17B in the Town of Cochecton between Burr and Westervelt roads Tuesday morning. The driver was uninjured.

The preliminary investigation revealed the bus was westbound on Route 17B, about 7:30 a.m., when it ran off the road, through a ditch, and traveled several hundred feet into a field.  The driver then reportedly tried to back out and became stuck in a culvert.

The bus sustained significant undercarriage damaged and flat tires.

Sullivan West School officials and sheriff’s deputies are still investigating the cause of the accident.

The Lake Huntington Fire Department and Cochecton and Bethel ambulances and state DOT responded to the scene.

The injured people were treated for their minor injuries at Catskill Regional Medical Center.