Nobles County undergoes large-scale disaster drill

READING - If it looked like the scene of a disaster Tuesday evening outside of the Church of the Brethren, that’s because it was.

Sort of.

Across from the church and down a hill was a rolled-over school bus, with trapped kids inside. On the other side of the road: a crashed car, and a dead driver.

It was all part of a real-time drill, meant to test the emergency capabilities of dispatch, police, fire and rescue and emergency medical services in Nobles County

Here’s how it went down:

Distracted driver Cork Zylstra was talking on his phone, and didn’t realize there was a bus coming his way. He also wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

Marv Zylstra, the bus driver who also wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, didn’t see him coming. They collided and the bus rolled down a hill, landing on its side, creating the crisis situation.

The two brothers were “killed” in the accident. Meanwhile, in the bus were Boy Scout Troop #134 members, leaders and parents, some of whom were trapped and badly injured.

The Nobles County Sheriff’s Office were the first on the scene, followed by Wilmont Fire and Rescue. They were able to open the back window to the bus and rescue a handful of the survivors. However, some people were completely stuck and needed to be rescued.

For more of this story, see Saturday's print edition and dglobe.com.

1/4: Rescue workers assist a victim of the staged bus "accident." (Karl Evers-Hillstrom / The Globe)

2/4: Rescue workers load an actor into the ambulance. (Karl Evers-Hillstrom / The Globe)

3/4: Rescue workers assist a victim of the staged bus "accident." (Karl Evers-Hillstrom / The Globe)

4/4: Emergency workers make their way into the bus. (Karl Evers-Hillstrom / The Globe)