Ohio bus crash cause probed after six killed and 18 injured: Updates
The bus, carrying students from the Tuscarawas Valley High School, crashed on an Ohio highway just east of Columbus
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Your support makes all the difference.Investigators have said that they have gathered “conflicting information” about the cause of a deadly crash involving a school bus travelling along a highway in Ohio on Tuesday.
Three Tuscarawas Valley High School students – Katelyn Owens, 15, Jeffery Worrell, 18, and John Mosely, 18 – died along with a high school teacher and two parent chaperones – Dave Kennat, 56, Kristy Gaynor, 39, and Shannon Wigfield, 45 – when five vehicles were involved in a pile-up on the I-70.
Another 20 students were transported to the hospital following the incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation to determine how the crash unfolded.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in a press conference on Wednesday that “conflicting information” had come to light about the cause.
She also warned that “we have a public health crisis on our roads”. “We need all hands on deck,” she said.
The bus was carrying 57 band students from Tuscarawas Valley Schools, located approximately 120 miles northeast of Columbus and around 43 miles south of Akron, when tragedy struck.
Photos: The victims in Tuesday’s fatal bus accident
Temporary memorial is taking form near Tusky Valley high school
A temporary memorial for the victims of the bus crash on Tuesday that left three Tusky Valley high school students, and three adults dead has been set up outside the high school in northeast Ohio.
Photos of each of the victims along with candles and a growing number of flowers have been left on a black-clothed table near the school.
I-70 reopened after fatal bus crash
The section of I-70 impacted by the fatal bus crash on Tuesday has been reopened, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
The affected stretch of highway underwent emergency repaving after the incident, and the westbound lane reopened at midnight early Wednesday morning.
All lanes of the highway closed around 9am following the accident. The eastbound lanes reopened around 4:30pm on Tuesday.
Fatal bus crash may be have been caused by another crash on I-70
The fatal bus crash that left three high school band students and three adults dead may have been caused by traffic slowdowns related to another crash on I-70.
Another crash occurred on I-70 early on Tuesday. Slowdowns resulting from that crash appears to have caused the charter bus carrying the students to slow down as it was approach the affected stretch of highway.
At some point a semi-truck barrelled into the back of the charter bus, and caused a fire. Three other vehicles were also involved in the accident.
The NTSB arrived at the scene this morning and will provide more information on the crash on Wednesday afternoon.
Pastors and grief counselors on campus at Tusky Valley high school
The Tuscarawas Valley School district brought pastors and grief counselors onto campus on Wednesday to help students and faculty shaken by the fatal bus crash that killed six members of the school community, including three students.
The school’s superintendent said he made the decision not to cancel classes in order to give students and faculty a place to gather following the tragedy.
Watch: Ohio Bus Crash Leaves 6 Dead, 18 Injured
Friends, family remember 15-year-old bus crash victim Katelyn Owens
Friends and family of Katelyn Owens shared their memories of the 15-year-old girl who was killed with five others — including two other students — in a bus crash on Tuesday.
Katelyn was traveling with her high school band to Columbus to play at an educational conference.
“We are all heartbroken and so many people loved our daughter,” Katelyn’s mother Erika Owens, told the Canton Repository.
“Everyone is heartbroken & in shock that [you’re] gone,” Aly Dolby, a friend of Katelyn’s who styled her hair, wrote on social media. ”You are the sweetest person I know and you gained your angel wings [too] soon and I truly can’t understand why if I’m being honest. You’re only 15 with so much more to see and experience in the world.”
NTSB provides update on fatal bus crash that killed six outside Columbus
Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board was in Columbus Wednesday to provide an update on the agency's investigation into the fatal bus crash that killed six on Tuesday, including three high school band students.
Ms Homendy first offered her condolences to the families of the victims and pledged that the NTSB would work to ensure a tragedy like Tuesday's would not occur again.
"We cant imagine what you've gone through since this crash and what challenges lie ahead for you, just know the NTSB will be thinking of you and working diligently on this investigation and after to implement our recommendations to prevent something like this from occurring again," she said.
She said the agency brought 16 personnel, including 9 investigators, to examine the scene. Ms Homendy said the investigation was likely to take between 12-18 months, but noted action would be taken prior to that to help prevent future crashes.
Investigators began arriving at the scene on Tuesday around 10pm and continued to arrived on Wednesday morning.
Ms Homendy said "urgent safety recommendations" may be made before the end of the investigation.
NTSB chair says there is a 'public health crisis' on our roads, shares frustration over lack of safety recommendation implementation
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said there is a "public health crisis" on US roads, and noted that 43,000 people die while driving every year.
"We have a public health crisis on our roads, we need all hands on deck here, we need to take action to save lives. We've made recommendations over the years and have given roadmaps to entities that haven't been implemented. Thats the key, implementing the recommendations," she said. "If I sound frustrated, it's because I am."
She said while she was at the site of the crash she could not help but think of the families affected by the tragedy, noting that she had a 15-year-old daughter. Katelyn Owens, one of the teens who died in the crash, was 15-years-old.
"You can't not think about the children that were involved, their families, the concern parents at home may have had, this was really tragic, this was really serious crash," she said.
Tusky Valley teen involved in fatal bus crash recalls scene inside the wreckage and her escape
A Tusky Valley student who was on a motorcoach involved in a fatal crash outside Columbus shared harrowing details of her experience inside the bus after a semi-truck rear-ended the vehicle.
Six people, including three students on the bus, were killed.
“I had a kid like over top of me having a seizure and not moving… unresponsive,” sophomore Tori Wilson told CBS 10 WBNS. “I had my friend beside me to my right, that was sitting right to where I was, where I was gonna sit, but she said that I could have the inside towards the window. And all I could see was her head and the rest was all crushed underneath seats.”
She said a student behind her was complaining that his legs were injured, and that anytime she attempted to free herself it would move the seats, causing him to cry out in pain.
“The kid behind me was complaining [about] his legs and I was trying to get out, but like I didn’t wanna crush him because anytime I moved the seats moved cause I was trying to get out and then he starts like screaming in pain,” Tori said. “The kid that was on the far right of the three, he was in the middle of the aisle and not moving.”
Tori eventually managed to escape the bus through a window.
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