A driver who police say was distracted plowed his pickup truck into the rear of a school bus as it was letting off a student last week. Eight people were sent to local hospitals with non-lifethreatening injuries.

Carrying nine Windham students from Salem High School, the small bus was stopped on Route 111 near the intersection of Killdeer Road when a black Ford F- 350 Superduty driven by Glenn Maynard, 56, of Hudson struck from behind at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 14, school and police officials said.

Four students were transported to Parkland Medical Center, Fire Chief Thomas McPherson said. The motorist and two other students were transported to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center while the bus driver, Andrea Maines, 61, of Salem was taken to Holy Family Hospital.

Three students refused treatment and were released to their parents, officials said. Officers described the injuries as typical of a rear-end accident and said the hospitalizations were a precaution. Authorities are not releasing the names of those students involved.

Mark Raad, 16, was standing up to leave the bus as it came to a stop in front of his 138 Haverhill Road when the pickup truck struck, he said. Raad was not injured.

“As I got up I flew forward,” said Raad, a junior at Salem High. “I have no idea (what happened next). Everything was white, dusty and glass was everywhere. I walked off the bus.”

His father, Joseph, heard the collision and knowing his son was due home, began running down his driveway.

“Usually, I’m not waiting for him, but I ran screaming, ‘Mark, Mark, are you OK?’ It was terrible, I ran to the bus,” he said. “Thank God he’s OK ... I feel good now.”

Neighbors described the same scene, saying it sounded like a bomb had gone off in the street.

“It made a hell of a noise,” said Phil Park.

“If it had been a car, those people would all be dead,” said Gerry Lavigne, standing in his front yard only a few feet away from the wreck.

Frank Bass, Windham’s superintendent, said the students were juniors and seniors still attending Salem High.

Though Windham opened a new high school to freshmen and sophomore students earlier this year, upperclassmen are graduating with their Salem classmates.

“The bus driver did everything he could,” Bass said. “This underscores the point that when driving pay attention to the road.”

The crash remains under investigation, though authorities have rule out alcohol or excessive speed as factors.