3 dead, 15 hospitalized when bus carrying students and truck crash on Ohio highway, officials say

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In a tragic incident on Tuesday morning, a charter bus, ferrying students from a high school, collided with a semi-truck on an Ohio highway, resulting in three fatalities and 15 individuals sustaining injuries, as confirmed by an emergency official.

The collision unfolded as a multi-vehicle accident involving five vehicles, prominently featuring a Pioneer Trails charter bus assigned to transport students from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District, situated in eastern Ohio. Licking County Emergency Management Agency Director Sean Grady reported a total of 57 individuals aboard the bus.

Lieutenant Nathan Dennis of the Ohio State Highway Patrol acknowledged the casualties from the collision, stating that “18 people were taken from the bus (overall).” However, he abstained from specifying the exact number of fatalities, explaining that authorities were in the process of notifying the victims’ families.

The bus was en route to an Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus, carrying Tuscarawas Valley students and chaperones, as indicated by Superintendent Derek Varansky. He expressed the primary focus on reaching out to the Tusky Valley families with loved ones on the bus and extending support to the entire school community during this trying time.

Regrettably, the conference was canceled in light of the distressing news. Jeff Chambers, the association’s director of communication services, conveyed their decision, saying, “Given this devastating news, we have canceled our conference. Right now, our focus is on providing support to Tuscarawas Valley. That includes making grief counselors from our trade show available.”

The accident unfolded shortly before 9 a.m. on Interstate 70 West in Licking County, near the Smoke Road underpass, approximately 26 miles east of Columbus. At the moment, the cause remains unknown.

The injured individuals received treatment at seven different hospitals. Pioneer Trails, the charter bus company involved, issued a statement confirming the incident and expressed their full cooperation with the authorities in the ongoing investigation.

The American Red Cross of Central and Southern Ohio promptly responded to a request for additional blood supply from a local hospital, dispatching 30 units to a facility in the Mount Carmel Health System. A center was established at a United Methodist Church in Etna to provide assistance to bus passengers who did not require medical attention and needed a place to contact their loved ones.

The accident scene saw an extensive presence of emergency responders, with Ohio Department of Transportation cameras capturing smoke emanating from the crash site. Police officers were positioned to block entrance ramps to I-70 East and West near the accident scene, leading to increased traffic in the vicinity. Numerous emergency response vehicles remained at the scene for several hours following the tragic incident.

Mickey Lymon, an investigator from the Licking County Coroner’s Office, confirmed their involvement but referred further inquiries to the state police. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, in a news conference at the accident site, expressed condolences and offered prayers to the affected families and everyone on the bus. He described the situation as a “worst nightmare” when a bus carrying children is involved in a crash.

This incident sadly marks the second recent fatal collision involving high school students on a charter bus, following a September incident where two individuals lost their lives, and several others were injured when a charter bus carrying high school students on their way to band camp veered off a New York highway.

[Source: Adapted from Associated Press reporting; Seewer from Toledo, Ohio; Ron Todt in Philadelphia, and Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey, contributed to this report.]

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More about Ohio Bus-Truck Collision

• Associated Press Reporting
• Ohio State Highway Patrol
• Ohio School Boards Association
• American Red Cross of Central and Southern Ohio
• Licking County Coroner’s Office
• Ohio Governor Mike DeWine
• Similar Previous Incident in New York