Ohio interstate crash involving busload of high school students leaves 6 dead, sends 18 to hospital

ETNA, Ohio — A charter bus filled with high school students was rear-ended by a semitruck on an Ohio highway Tuesday morning, leaving six people dead and 18 others injured, officials said.

Five vehicles were involved in the crash, including a Pioneer Trails charter bus carrying students and chaperones from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District in eastern Ohio, said Licking County Emergency Management Agency Director Sean Grady.

Three passengers on the bus, which was carrying a driver and 54 students and chaperones, were pronounced dead at the scene, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said Tuesday night. They were identified as John W. Mosely, 18, of Mineral City; Jeffery D. Worrell, 18, of Bolivar; and Katelyn N. Owens, 15, of Mineral City.

ETNA,OH **MASS CASUALTY** INTERSTATE 70 @ MM 118 - SEMI TRUCK VERSUS GREYHOUND BUS WITH FIRE - MULTIPLE MEDEVCS REQUESTED - STARTING TRIAGE #BREAKING pic.twitter.com/jO5hlXI5Zy

— Alertpage, Inc (@alertpage) November 14, 2023

“This is our worst nightmare, when we have a bus full of children involved in a crash,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said during a news conference at the scene. “Prayers go out to the families, everyone who was on the bus.”

The conference was canceled after organizers learned of the crash, said spokesperson Jeff Chambers.

The crash took place shortly before 9 a.m. on Interstate 70 West in Licking County, about 26 miles east of Columbus. The cause was not immediately known.

In a written statement, Pioneer Trails offered its condolences to those affected by the crash and said it was cooperating with authorities, but would have no further comment pending the investigation.

“Pioneer is fully cooperating with the authorities as we work to find the cause of the accident,” the company’s statement said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those impacted by this accident. As this is an ongoing investigation, there will be no further comments.”

The American Red Cross of Central and Southern Ohio said it fulfilled a request for more blood from one hospital in the area, sending 30 units to a hospital in the Mount Carmel Health System, said Marita Salkowski, regional communications director. A center was set up at a United Methodist Church in Etna for bus passengers not in need of medical attention to go to and contact loved ones, she said.

Numerous emergency responders were at the scene, and Ohio Department of Transportation cameras from the area showed smoke coming from the crash site. Police officers were blocking the entrance ramps to I-70 East and West near the scene of the accident, increasing traffic along the road leading to the interstate. Dozens of emergency response vehicles were still at the scene of the accident several hours after it occurred.

Mickey Lymon, an investigator with the Licking County Coroner’s Office, said they had been called to the scene, but deferred other questions to the state police.

“This is our worst nightmare, when we have a bus full of children involved in a crash,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said during a news conference at the scene. “Prayers go out to the families, everyone who was on the bus.”

It was the second recent fatal crash involving high school students on a charter bus. In September, two people were killed and several others injured when a charter bus carrying high school students to band camp veered off a New York highway.