PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Tuesday marks the 65th anniversary of the Floyd County school bus crash that resulted in the deaths of 26 students and the bus driver.

On the morning of Friday, Feb. 28, 1958, Floyd County school bus number 27 was loaded with 48 students as it made its way on what is now Route 1428, just outside of Prestonsburg. As it traveled along the narrow road, the bus clipped the rear of a tow truck on the side of the road. The bus then traveled a short distance down the road before plunging over the riverbank and disappearing into the rain-swollen waters of the Big Sandy River.

It would take two days before the bus was found. Only 15 bodies were found inside the bus. It would take volunteers and National Guardsmen 69 days to locate the last victim.

The student victims range in age from 7 to 17. The bus driver, John Alex Derossett, 27, was posthumously cleared of negligence in the crash.

In the wake of the tragedy, the volunteers who helped in the rescue and recovery would form what would become the first rescue squad in Kentucky, Floyd County Emergency and Rescue Squad, nearly two months after the crash. The all-volunteer agency has since distinguished itself as the first rescue squad east of the Mississippi to use the Jaws of Life and the first certified swift water rescue team in Kentucky.