Federal authorities are investigating the school bus crash that killed a five-year-old student in Standish earlier this week.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it's opened a safety investigation into the accident in coordination with the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office and Maine State Police. The agency didn't say why it's investigating this particular accident.
But in a statement, the NTSB said it routinely conducts investigations of a similar nature.
"The NTSB regularly investigates road and highway crashes to identify possible system-wide safety issues that could have nationwide impacts and makes recommendations on how to prevent similar crashes from occurring in the future," the agency said. "School bus safety has been a focus of previous NTSB investigations and is an important issue for improving road safety."
Cumberland County sheriffs have said Simon Gonzalez, 5, was pronounced dead at the scene after being hit by a school bus Tuesday morning on North East Road in Standish, about a half mile away from Edna Libby Elementary School.
In November, a 12-year-old student, Brayden Callahan, was fatally struck by a school bus in Rockland.
An agency spokesperson said the NTSB is aware of a second fatal school bus accident that occurred recently in Rockland, but could not confirm whether it will be reviewed separately.
A preliminary report on the Standish accident is expected to be available within 30 days, according to the NTSB.
