The accident occurred at about 7:30 a.m. near the intersection to U.S. Highway 421 and Red Hill Church Road, near Buies Creek, authorities said.
The driver of the last of six buses in a caravan to Myrtle Beach said his brakes failed to work properly, and the bus ran into another bus in the caravan. The cause of the accident remains under investigation, authorities said.
Fourteen sixth-graders, two staff members and two parents were transported to Betsy Johnson Hospital in Dunn as a precaution, Wake County Schools officials said. All had been treated and released by noon, officials said.
Parents of the students involved in the accident were being contacted by the school Thursday morning.
Other students, faculty and staff were taken to a shelter in Erwin, where buses picked them up and returned them to school, officials said. Parents were allowed to take them home early or let them finish their day in class.
Two other groups of sixth-graders from Fuquay-Varina Middle who weren't involved in the accident continued on their field trip, officials said.
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