More horror photos emerge as school bus death toll rises to six

15 November 2023 , 01:18

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Six were killed and 18 others injured after a horrific bus crash on a highway in eastern Ohio Tuesday morning (Image: ABC6)

Horrendous photos show the carnage at the scene of the charter bus accident in Ohio that left six dead and 18 others injured on Tuesday morning.

A fireball can be seen erupting between a semitruck and a charter bus that had been carrying 54 students at the point of collision as aerial shots from above show a large scorch mark across the highway.

The accident occurred after the semitruck rear-ended the charter bus, the passengers of which were on a field trip from Tuscarawes Valley Local School District in the eastern part of the state, according to Licking County Emergency Management Agency Director Sean Grady. Chaos ensured as five vehicles total piled up, including two commercial vehicles, the bus and two passenger vehicles.

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A fireball erupted at the point of collision (Fox28)

Three of the bus's passengers were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. They were 18-year-olds John W. Mosely of Mineral City and Jefferey D. Worrell of Bolivar and 15-year-old Katelyn N. Owens of Mineral City.

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The three passengers in one of the passenger vehicles involved in the pileup were also pronounced dead — they were 56-year-old Dave Kennat of Navarre, 39-year-old Kristy Gaynor of Zoar and 45-year-old Shannon Wigfield of Bolivar.

"This is our worst nightmare, when we have a bus full of children involved in a crash," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said during a press conference held at the scene. He added: "Prayers go out to the families, everyone who was on that bus."

Fifteen students and the bus driver were taken to regional hospitals, while the other students were taken to a designated reunification site, according to officials. The driver of a second passenger vehicle involved in the crash was also taken to the hospital, as was one of the drivers of the commercial vehicles involved. The other was treated at the scene, highway patrol revealed.

A giant scorch mark resulted on the highway after three vehicles caught fire (USA Today Network)

Each of the vehicles had been travelling westbound on Interstate 70 through Licking County, which is about 26 miles (42km) east of Columbus at around 9am local time. Three of the vehicles were confirmed to have caught fire after the incident as the National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate. It remains unclear exactly what caused the accident.

The students on board the bus had been on their way to a meeting of the Ohio School Boards Association in Columbus, Tuscarawas Valley Superintendent Derek Varansky said. He said the district's focus is getting in touch with the families impacted by the accident and providing as much support as possible to the community, both in and out of the schools, he wrote on Facebook.

That conference was subsequently cancelled after news of the crash reached organisers, Jeff Chambers, a spokesperson for the Ohio School Boards Association, said. Pioneer Trails, the bus company, also wrote a statement offering condolences to those impacted by the crash, noting that it has been and will be cooperating with local authorities but stating that no further comments would be made as the investigation gets underway.

Traffic backed up severely after the crash occurred on I-70 (WBNS 10TV)

The Red Cross announced that 30 units of blood had been sent to a local hospital to assist the victims, Marita Salkowski, regional communications director for the local American Red Cross office, said. The reunification centre was established at a Methodist church in Etna, a nearby municipality.

One parent who went to pick up her daughter at the school after news of the horrific crash broke said she was "sick to [her] stomach," the Columbus Dispatch reported. Officials at the school were waiting outside the building as the parents went to pick up their children.

Tuesday's crash was the second similar one in just a few months, with another charter bus crash involving students — which killed two and injured many more — occurring in September. The kids had been off to band camp in New York.

Jeremiah Hassel