35 injured in Ohio bus accident
Passengers say driver slumped over before veering off road
CINCINNATI — A Greyhound bus driven off a highway in southwest Ohio early Saturday struck a tree and a fence and flipped on its side before sliding to a stop in a cornfield, injuring at least 35 people.
None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, though several people were trapped and had to be extricated by firefighters and paramedics, the State Highway Patrol said in a statement.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, but passenger Christopher Link of Michigan told WCPO-TV in Cincinnati that he saw the driver slumped over. Link said he heard a woman scream at the driver, “Wake up! Wake up!” but that he thinks the man might have had a medical problem.
The bus went off the right side of northbound Interstate 75 about 25 miles north of Cincinnati about 3:50 a.m., the patrol said. Lake told the TV station the bus rolled over twice after hitting the tree.
Authorities said that the crash remained under investigation.
Jeff Galloway, director of the Butler County Emergency Management Agency, said 35 people were taken to hospitals; six by helicopters and 29 by ambulance. Some of the injuries were severe, officials said. At least nine people remained in hospitals Saturday night.
The bus, which left Cincinnati bound for Detroit, was carrying 51 passengers and the driver. The passengers who were not injured and those who were treated and released from hospitals were transported back to Cincinnati, but none were at the bus station later Saturday morning.
Link, who was not injured, told WCPO that he saw children on the bus and thought some passengers had broken arms and legs.
He said that the bus driver seemed fine when he boarded the bus.
The driver, who has been with the company for almost 15 years, had been on duty for an hour and was fully rested, said Kim Plaskett, a spokesman for Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc.
The driver was among the injured, but Plaskett said she could not release the person’s name or medical condition because of medical privacy laws.
Plaskett said she couldn’t discuss any details of the crash or the possible cause. The company was cooperating with investigators and will talk to the driver to try to determine what happened, Plaskett said.
The bus just had its major annual inspection two weeks ago, Plaskett said. She said drivers also do pre-trip inspections to make sure buses are fit for travel.
Greyhound sent a crisis-response team to the site as soon as the company was notified of the crash, she said.
A telephone hotline was set up for friends and family members seeking information about the passengers on the bus. The phone number is (800) 972-4583.
The skies were clear in the region early Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.