BY JAMIE C. RUFF

Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

AMELIA -- An Amelia County man was killed today when his minivan slammed into the rear of a stopped school bus that was taking students home.

State police Sgt. Tom Cunningham said the driver of the minivan, Charles Herman Osterman, 76, of Amelia, died at the scene. Osterman was the only person in the minivan and was wearing his seat belt when the crash occurred, Cunningham said.

Two male students from Amelia, ages 13 and 18, were taken by rescue squad to VCU Medical Center. Five others were driven to the hospital by their families, but none of the students were believed to be seriously injured, Cunningham said.

There were 43 students, from kindergartners to high school seniors, on the bus, Cunningham said.

David M. Gangel, superintendent of Amelia schools, said he did not have information about the conditions of the students taken to the hospital. He said the school system advised parents that any students who complained of pain should be examined.

Rescue workers and the three nurses who work for the county schools checked the students at the scene, Gangel said. Another school bus dispatched by the system picked up the students and took them home.

The crash occurred about 3:25 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of U.S. 360 at Goodes Bridge Road near a Food Lion store. The bus had stopped at a stop light in the right lane when the minivan struck it.

The crash closed one of the two eastbound lanes of U.S. 360 for about two hours. The minivan's front end was crushed; the bus's rear floor-level window was broken and its bumper was pushed in.

Valarie Harris, president of the Amelia County Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association, said she came to the scene to offer assistance, sitting with the students and making sure that parents had been contacted.

"We're thankful that everyone on the bus was OK," Harris said. "We're saddened about the fatality and pray for that family."

Through the years, Gangel said, there have been "bumps and broken mirrors from time to time" but this is the first fatality associated with a bus crash anyone in the school administration can remember.

Contact Jamie C. Ruff at jruff@timesdispatch.com