STUDENT HURT IN CANOPY COLLAPSE

NEW HAMBURG -- A student was injured Monday after a garbage truck knocked down a wooden canopy attached to the Kelso C-7 school building.

The student, a sixth-grader whose name was not released by the school, was walking under the structure and into the school building when the accident occurred. He was treated at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau for minor injuries and released.

Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell said the accident occurred when a sanitation truck entered the school's driveway and slid on a patch of ice. The truck angled downhill and stopped after hitting a post that supported an awning near the south entrance to the school.

"That awning was extremely heavy, and when the post collapsed it brought the entire thing down," he said.

Kelso schools Superintendent Bob White said school officials initially were unsure what had happened. People were speculating the school's roof or other structures had collapsed, he said.

He said he was impressed with the quick response of emergency personnel to the scene and was glad to know the county is prepared to handle an emergency, even when they were unsure of its exact nature.

"We didn't know how many were under there at the time," said White. "We were lucky the child only received a few minor scratches. We don't want to minimize one child getting hurt, but it could have been much worse."

Ferrell said although this potentially-serious accident was relatively minor, it provided rescue teams a vital learning opportunity.

"At the time we were responding we thought we had a major tragedy on our hands," he said. "We were very lucky this wasn't more serious, and it gave us a chance to practice our emergency rescue plans."