HIGHLAND, Ill. — A Greyhound passenger bus crashed into three tractor-trailers parked alongside a freeway exit to a relaxation space early Wednesday in southern Illinois, killing three folks and injuring 14 others, some significantly, state police stated.
The St. Louis-bound bus was touring westbound alongside Interstate 70 in Madison County round 1:55 a.m. when it crashed into the three semis, Illinois State Police stated, citing an preliminary investigation.
Four folks have been taken to the hospital by helicopter and at the least 10 others have been taken by ambulance, state police stated in a information launch. Police didn’t instantly launch particulars about those that have been injured and killed.
No one within the three vans was injured within the crash close to the town of Highland about 25 miles east of St. Louis, police stated.
State Police spokesperson Melaney Arnold stated these killed and injured have been all on the Greyhound bus. She was unsure if the bus driver was amongst these killed or injured or if all of these concerned have been passengers.
The crash closed westbound site visitors on I-70.
The National Transportation Safety Board will ship a group to research the crash, the company stated.
Photos and TV footage present the aspect of the bus peeled open, the roof crumpled. A second tractor-trailer seems to have made contact with the precise rear of the bus whereas a 3rd tractor-trailer seems to have crashed into the rear of that second semi.
Passenger Edward Alexander of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, advised the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he helped a pregnant girl get off the bus and was looking for his telephone when he “realized smoke was coming in the bus. I was like, ‘forget that phone,’ and went on and jumped out the window.”
Greyhound spokesperson Mike Ogulnick stated in an e mail that the bus was touring from Indianapolis to St. Louis, the place it was scheduled to reach at about 2:20 a.m. It was carrying about 30 folks, together with the driving force, he stated.
“Our primary concern is ensuring we care for our passengers and driver at this time,” Ogulnick stated. “We are working closely with local authorities and a relief bus is on the way for passengers.”
Another bus was despatched to move passengers who weren’t harm, Ogulnick stated.
It is illegitimate in Illinois for vans to park on exit ramps. But trucking trade specialists say semis typically cease there for the evening as a result of in a single day parking is tough to seek out at relaxation stops and different locations, resembling truck stops.
“And that’s not only dangerous for them but it’s dangerous for the motoring public because they do need their rest and they deserve their rest,” Lewis Pugh of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association stated at a May listening to earlier than a House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee.
Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration introduced it would require vans and buses to incorporate computerized emergency braking gear inside 5 years. AEBs use forward-facing cameras and sensor applied sciences to detect when a crash is imminent.
The system robotically applies the brakes if the driving force has not achieved so, or, if wanted, applies extra braking drive to complement the driving force’s actions. The proposed normal would require the know-how to work at speeds starting from 6 to 50 mph.
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com