Harnett County, NC -- A 12-year-old Harnett County boy died Thursday morning when he was hit by a van while trying to board a school bus near Coats, authorities said.

The wreck happened along N.C. Highway 27 near Bill Avery Road at 6:55 a.m.  Adam Kempf, a student at Coats-Erwin Middle School, tried to board a bus that was stopped with its stop arm out.

Kempf was taken to Betsy Johnson Hospital in Dunn, where he later died.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said Fernando Ortiz-Soto, of Sanford, was driving the van that hit Kempf and that he swerved to avoid the child.

Ortiz-Soto was charged with death by motor vehicle and driving without a license.

The cause of the wreck is still under investigation, but alcohol and speed were not factors, according to authorities.

WRAL