LEWISTON — Seven students were shaken up Monday afternoon when their minibus was hit by a sport utility vehicle at Prospect Avenue and Lisbon Street, officials said.

According to witnesses, a red Ford Escape was headed north on Lisbon Street at about 3:15 p.m. and turning left onto Prospect Avenue, where the minibus was stopped. The SUV was struck by a black Toyota Corolla headed south on Lisbon Street, causing the SUV to hit the front of the bus.

Donna Roberts, of 929 Lisbon St., said she had taken her grandson Damian off the bus and had walked back inside the house.

“That’s when I heard a loud boom, and I ran out to see if the kids and the driver were OK,” Roberts said.

School Transportation Manager Butch Pratt said the bus driver had stopped at the intersection and was waiting to turn left. The minibus was carrying seven Farwell Elementary School special education students, Superintendent Bill Webster said.

Police at the scene declined to identify the drivers or say whether they were injured. On Monday night, they were unable to release that information due to a computer glitch, an officer said.

Pratt and Superintendent Bill Webster went to the scene.

Webster described the incident as “traumatic” for students, who were shaken up by the crash, he said. They were checked by United Ambulance staff before being moved to a new bus and taken home.

“We were very fortunate,” Pratt said.

Pratt and Webster followed the replacement minibus after it left the accident, stopping to tell parents meeting their children at the bus stops what had happened.

staylor@sunjournal.com