13-year-old student killed after sticking head out bus window, hitting concrete pole
A 13-year-old girl is dead in southeastern Brazil after a horrific accident where she leaned her head out of a bus window to wave at people on the sidewalk and struck a pole, according to multiple reports.
Fernanda Pacheco Ferraz was killed on Aug. 16 in Nova Friburgo, a city in the country's Serra do Mar mountains, according to information from local TV outlet GloboNews and Jam Press.
Friburgo is about 60 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro.
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The bus driver swerved to avoid traffic
Witnesses said the bus left Professor Carlos Côrtes State College, where the girl attended school, and was heading towards her home when the accident took place, GloboNews reported.
As she sat in the last left-side seat of the bus, the outlet wrote, the girl leaned out the window to "wave to some colleagues" on the sidewalk.
While her head was out the window, Jam Press reported, the bus driver "swerved to avoid oncoming traffic" along the road and the girl's head collided with a concrete pole near the curb.
After her head hit the pole, both news outlets reported, passengers on board alerted the driver, who stopped the vehicle before first responders arrived.
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Pronounced dead on scene
The girl was pronounced dead after firefighters arrived at the scene.
The driver of the bus said the road, Rua Luiz Catarcione, was "particularly narrow and he was forced to turn away from a vehicle on the bus’ right side, causing it to collide with the pole," FOX News reported.
The Rio de Janeiro State Department of Education released a statement regarding the girl's death, according to FOX.
"The Secretary of State for Education deeply regrets the accident that occurred with a student from the State College Professor Carlos Côrtes, in the Catarcione neighborhood, in Nova Friburgo, on Wednesday (Aug 16), during her journey back home," the statement reads.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.