Three dead and 14 injured after Greyhound bus hits vehicles on highway
Three people were killed and at least 14 injured when a Greyhound bus struck three vehicles on a highway in Illinois.
The large intercity charter bus collided with traffic just before 2.00am on Wednesday morning, the Illinois State Police said in a news release.
The accident occurred on Interstate-70, when the bus collided with three commercial vehicles that were ‘parked on an exit ramp to Silver Lake rest area in Highland, Illinois,’ the police said.
Footage from the scene shows that the vehicles were large semi-trailer trucks. None of the occupants of the other vehicles were injured.
Three people were killed in the accident, police said. At least fourteen more were injured, including the Greyhound’s driver.
Four of the injured passengers had to be airlifted to local hospitals by medevac helicopter.
The identities of the deceased passengers have not yet been released.
‘Multiple passengers, including our driver, have been transported to the hospital,’ the charter bus company said in a statement.’ Our primary concern is ensuring we care for our passengers and driver at this time. We are working closely with local authorities and a relief bus is on the way for passengers.’
Traffic on I-70 was reduced to a single lane as first responders rushed to the scene. As of 8.30am, the ramp to the rest area remains closed.
Greyhound confirmed that the bus was traveling route 1675, which runs from Indianapolis, Indiana to St Louis, Missouri. The bus was only about 25 miles from its destination when the crash occurred.
It is unclear how many passengers were on the bus when the accident happened.
The cause of the fatal crash has not been determined. Photos from the scene show much of the Greyhound destroyed, with a nearly completely caved-in roof.
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