A Louisiana bus driver is being praised by her community after she saved a group of children, according to multiple reports.
During an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Kia Rousseve recalled the bus “acting crazy” and “jerking” during her regular morning route earlier this month, on March 13.
Rousseve, a driver for Community Academies of New Orleans for three years, said she was about to make another stop when she felt like something was off, especially as the vehicle started to lose power. That’s when she decided to pull over, and a bystander notified her about the smoke on the bottom of the bus.
“I put my motherhood on,” she told the outlet. “I have a child, so I thought about them kids like it was my own child.”
According to WVUE, she immediately got nine students — kindergarteners to eighth graders —off the bus through the front door. Security camera footage shows the bus burst into flames as soon as the group got off.
“I turned the bus off and got off. When I got off, the bus blew up,” Rousseve said to the news station. “All I heard was boom, boom, boom. I was like oh my God, the bus blew up.”
Rousseve noted that she wanted to keep her composure in front of the children, who she said were terrified during the incident. She thinks a faulty alternator contributed to the fire and told some outlets that she may not drive buses anymore.
However, she was touted as courageous and a hero for her actions.
“Her ability to stay calm in the face of danger, ensuring not a single child came to harm is nothing short of heroic,” a community statement said, per Nola.com. “It’s a poignant reminder of the crucial role bus drivers play in our children’s lives, often going unnoticed until a moment of crisis thrusts them into the spotlight.”
