14 November 2023 , 17:11
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A charter bus carrying students from a high school was rear-ended by a semi-truck on an Ohio highway Tuesday morning, leaving three people dead and 18 others injured, according to an emergency official.
The charter bus was transporting students from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District in eastern Ohio, Licking County Emergency Management Agency Director Sean Grady said. There were a total of 57 people onboard, he said.
The bus was carrying Tuscarawas Valley students and chaperones to an Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus, Superintendent Derek Varansky said.
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The charter bus was transporting students from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District (WBNS 10TV)"Right now, our focus is on getting in touch with our Tusky Valley families who had loved ones on the bus and providing support to our entire school community," Varansky said in a Facebook post.
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The accident occurred shortly before 9 a.m. on Interstate 70 West in Licking County, near the Smoke Road underpass and about 26 miles (42 kilometers) east of Columbus. The cause was not immediately known.
The crash killed three people (WBNS 10TV)The injured were being treated at five hospitals. 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. The highway was closed in both directions and numerous traffic delays were being reported.
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. Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Ron Todt in Philadelphia and Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
In 2022, Ohio's traffic safety, particularly Cuyahoga County, was called into question by 19 News. Its Data Journalism team analyzed vehicular crash statistics going back five years. The reporters found that Cuyahoga County typically tops the list.
Since 2017, there were reportedly more crashes in Cuyahoga than in any other in the US. Ohio state patrol recorded almost 260,000 crashes in 2021, with more than 10% happening in Cuyahoga. The county ranks #2 in Ohio for the most crashes in 2021, with a whopping 28,066.