Ohio interstate crash involving busload of high school students leaves six dead, 18 injured

Six dead, 18 injured in Ohio charter bus crash; bus was carrying students and chaperones to Ohio School Boards Association conference. Three passengers on the bus, three in a passenger vehicle, and drivers of two commercial vehicles involved. Cause of crash under investigation; National Transportation Safety Board team headed to scene. Red Cross sent 30 units of blood to hospital; center set up for bus passengers.

A charter bus filled with high school students was rear-ended by a semitruck on an Ohio highway Tuesday morning, leaving six people dead and 18 injured, officials said.

Five vehicles were involved in the crash, including a Pioneer Trails charter bus carrying students and chaperones from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District in eastern Ohio, said Licking County Emergency Management Agency Director Sean Grady.

Three passengers on the bus, which was carrying a driver and 54 students and chaperones, were pronounced dead at the scene, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said Tuesday night. They were identified as John W. Mosely, 18, of Mineral City; Jeffery D. Worrell, 18, of Bolivar; and Katelyn N. Owens, 15, of Mineral City.

“This is our worst nightmare, when we have a bus full of children involved in a crash,” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said during a news conference at the scene. “Prayers go out to the families, everyone who was on the bus.”

A total of 15 students and the bus driver were brought to area hospitals, while other students were taken to a reunification site, officials said.

All three people in one of the passenger vehicles involved were also pronounced dead at the scene, the highway patrol said. They were identified as Dave Kennat, 56, of Navarre; Kristy Gaynor, 39, of Zoar; and Shannon Wigfield, 45, of Bolivar.

The driver of the other passenger vehicle was also taken to a hospital. Of the drivers of the commercial vehicles involved, one was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening and the other was treated at the scene, the highway patrol said.