ALTON- Saturday marked the 30th anniversary of a deadly school bus accident in Alton.

21 students died after their bus was hit, sending it crashing down into a water-filled caliche pit.

Hundreds of first responders rushed to the scene.

"We did everything we could to give everybody their opportunity for being saved," said Edinburg Fire Chief, Shawn Snider, who responded to the scene.

First responders broke windows, bent frames and dove in without gear to rescue whoever they could.

"When we got there, we knew what we needed to do, we knew what the challenge was, which was the bus is under water and there's children inside," Snider said.

CHANNEL 5's Cecilia Gutierrez sat down with Snider and Alamo Fire Chief, Roy Contreras to reflect on the tragedy.

Click the video above for the full story.