The State Police said that on Tuesday, a horrific chain-reaction accident on an interstate in central Ohio involving a charter bus, a tractor-trailer truck, and three other vehicles resulted in the deaths of six people, with 18 others injured and sent to the hospital.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, a charter bus carrying students and adult chaperones from the Tarkovas Valley School District in eastern Ohio to an educational conference was involved in the accident. Three people died on the bus, and the bus driver and 16 others were injured.
All the injured were taken to local hospitals.
The three bus passengers who died were students – two 18-year-old males and a 15-year-old girl. The highway patrol team declared three adults riding in one of the cars involved in the accident dead at the scene.
The driver of the other automobile, along with two truck drivers, was taken to the hospital. Police reported that another person was treated at the scene and released.
The accident occurred around 9 a.m. local time on Interstate-70 near Etna Township, about 21 miles (34 km) east of the state capital, Columbus.
Police said that at least three of the five vehicles involved had caught fire.
No details were provided about the sequence of events. Police stated that an investigation into the causes of the accident is underway.
From the images of the accident scene, there was no indication that weather was a contributing factor. Local news media footage showed a large motorcoach, with the rear mostly obliterated, struck by a large-rig truck from behind.
A damaged sports utility vehicle was also visible beside the truck.
Some students on the bus were members of a band and were scheduled to perform at the Ohio School Boards Association conference, an annual event in Columbus that included an education trade show and a “student achievement fair,” according to the organization’s website. The conference, which started on Sunday, was canceled after the Tuesday accident, according to a report from The Columbus Dispatch.
