Good Day Readers, Today a news has come stating about a collision on an Ohio highway involving a bus carrying high school students results in 6 fatalities and leaves 18 individuals injured. Stay with this article to find out more about this news. On Tuesday morning, a semitruck rear-ended a charter bus filled with high school students on an Ohio highway, resulting in six fatalities and 18 injuries, according to officials. The crash involved five vehicles, including a Pioneer Trails charter bus transporting students and chaperones from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District in eastern Ohio, as stated by Licking County Emergency Management Agency Director Sean Grady.
Three passengers on the bus, which had a driver and 54 students and chaperones on board, were pronounced dead at the scene, as confirmed by the Ohio State Highway Patrol on Tuesday night. The individuals were identified as John W. Mosely, 18, of Mineral City; Jeffery D. Worrell, 18, of Bolivar; and Katelyn N. Owens, 15, of Mineral City. “This is our worst nightmare, having a bus full of children involved in a crash,” remarked Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine during a news conference at the scene. “Our prayers go out to the families and everyone who was on the bus.” Fifteen students and the bus driver were transported to local hospitals, with additional students directed to a reunification site, according to officials.
Ohio Highway Crash
The Ohio State Highway Patrol reported that all three occupants of one of the involved passenger vehicles were also pronounced dead at the scene. They were identified as Dave Kennat, 56, of Navarre; Kristy Gaynor, 39, of Zoar; and Shannon Wigfield, 45, of Bolivar. The driver of the second passenger vehicle was also transported to a hospital. Regarding the drivers of the commercial vehicles in the incident, one was taken to a hospital with injuries deemed non-life-threatening, while the other received on-site treatment, as reported by the highway patrol. All the vehicles were heading westbound on Interstate 70 in Licking County, approximately 26 miles (42 kilometers) east of Columbus, around 9 a.m. when the chain-reaction crash occurred. Following the collision, at least three vehicles caught fire, as reported by the highway patrol.
The cause of the crash is currently under investigation, and a team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators is en route to the scene. The bus, with students and chaperones on board, was en route to an Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus, as stated by Tuscarawas Valley Superintendent Derek Varansky. “At this moment, our primary concern is reaching out to the Tusky Valley families with loved ones on the bus and offering support to our entire school community,” stated Varansky in a Facebook post. Upon learning about the crash, the conference was canceled, confirmed spokesperson Jeff Chambers. In a written statement, Pioneer Trails expressed condolences to those impacted by the crash and stated cooperation with authorities. However, they mentioned having no further comments pending the investigation.
The Red Cross dispatched 30 units of blood to a hospital in the Mount Carmel Health System to aid the victims, as communicated by Marita Salkowski, regional communications director for the American Red Cross of Central and Southern Ohio. A center was established at a United Methodist Church in Etna for bus passengers not requiring medical attention to connect with their loved ones. As a line of cars extended into the Tuscarawas Valley Middle-High School parking lot on Tuesday morning, school officials engaged with parents before they entered to pick up their children, reported the Columbus Dispatch. “I’m sick. I’m sick to my stomach,” quoted the newspaper, parent Laurie Fragasse, expressing her feelings when picking up her daughter.
Numerous emergency responders attended to the crash, and Ohio Department of Transportation cameras captured smoke emanating from the site. Police officers blocked nearby entrance ramps to I-70 East and West, causing increased traffic on the road leading to the interstate. The collision in Ohio marked the second recent fatal crash in the U.S. involving high school students on a charter bus. In September, a charter bus carrying high school students to band camp veered off a New York highway, resulting in two fatalities and several injuries.
