Special Needs School Bus Hit by Car on UES Updated July 27, 2011 4:20pm

A vehicle filled with children on route to a day camp was struck by a police vehicle, school officials said. (DNAinfo/Kareem Johnson)

By Kareem Johnson and Carla Zanoni

DNAinfo Staff

UPPER EAST SIDE — A police vehicle turning on an Upper East Side street crashed into a packed yellow school bus Wednesday, police said.

The bus for special needs children had finished picking up in the city and was driving to the Pierce Country Day Camp in Roslyn, Long Island, when the police car made a U-turn and crashed into its side, school officials said. The school originally believed the vehicle belonged to the NYPD, but the police department said Wednesday afternoon that it was a State Department car. A State Department spokeswoman said she did not immediately have any information about the incident.

“My bus was just minding its own business when a police car pulled out in front of it,” said Forester Pierce, a camp spokesman.

The accident occured at York Avenue and 74th Street around 8:41 a.m., a fire department spokesman said.

The 18 children and three adults aboard were evaluated at the scene and released with no injuries, fire officials said.