3 dead, 15 injured in 'mass casualty' crash; bus was carrying students headed to Columbus

ETNA – Three people are dead and 15 others injured after a "mass casualty incident" involving a semi and a charter bus carrying students on Interstate 70, near the State Route 310 interchange, in Licking County.

Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools, an Ohio school district in Zoarville, said late Tuesday morning that the bus was carrying students and chaperones and that there may have been "serious injuries" among those on board.

Around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, dozens of emergency personnel from across Licking County and eastern Franklin County responded to the area on a report of a crash. Scanner traffic indicated that a tractor-trailer hit a commercial bus carrying dozens of passengers.

State officials: Traffic will be closed for some time during investigation

During a Tuesday morning news conference at a rest stop, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said his prayers go out to all involved in the crash and their families.

“This is our worst nightmare when we have a bus full of children involved in a crash and certainly the worst nightmare families can endure or a school can endure, DeWine said.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Nate Dennis said the crash involved five vehicles, and 18 people were taken from the bus. Dennis did not provide a number for how many victims died in the crash, but a Red Cross spokesperson later confirmed three people died.

Ohio Department of Transportation spokesperson Matt Bruning said to expect a lengthy closure of I-70 in both directions while the investigation is underway.

DeWine spoke to media again about 2:30 p.m., saying he visited the reunification center where he spoke with at least one mother picking up her child and other students and expressed his sympathies. DeWine ordered flags half-staff in Tuscarawas County and at the Statehouse.He said the investigation into the crash will take some time, which Dennis confirmed.Bruning said I-70 will remain closed. He added that pavement repairs are needed to westbound lanes where the crash occurred. A construction crew is standing by to make those repairs as quickly as possible.

'Sick to my stomach': Tuscarawas Valley school students, chaperones on bus

Tuscarawas Valley Superintendent Derek Varansky said on Facebook that "a charter bus carrying Tusky Valley students and chaperones on the way to the Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus was involved in a very serious accident.

"We understand from law enforcement that there may be multiple serious injuries and we are working to learn the details," Varansky wrote. "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 district officials will share updates as they are able, including plans for upcoming school days and events.

A steady stream of vehicles pulled into the Tuscarawas Valley Middle-High School parking lot Tuesday morning, as parents came to pick up their grief-stricken children. Staff members came to the vehicles, conferred with the drivers and then went back into the school to retrieve their children.

"I'm sick. I'm sick to my stomach," parent Laurie Fragasse said when she picked up her daughter Camrynn just before noon.

Camrynn, an eighth grader, said she was scared and sad.

"I don't really know how to feel right now," she said.

Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus canceled in light of tragedy

The students were headed to the the Ohio School Board Association annual convention held in Columbus. The event, which was held from Nov. 12-14, features speakers, a trade show and a student success exposition, according to the OSBA website. The event was canceled Tuesday, an association spokesperson said.

"Given this devastating news, we have canceled our conference," an association statement read. "Right now, our focus is on providing support to Tuscarawas Valley. That includes making grief counselors from our trade show available."

Tusky Valley families reunified at Etna reunification site

By 2 p.m., almost all of the students not transported to the hospital had been reunified with their students at the Etna United Methodist Church. In total, 34 students were taken there after the crash, said Don Hawkins, regional communications manager for the Red Cross of Central and Southern Ohio, which Licking County Emergency Management contacted for help.

“Whenever something like this happens, we work with local EMA to assist them. We don’t try to take over the operation,” Hawkins said.

Mount Carmel East hospital also requested and received 30 extra units of blood, he added.

“It’s heavy; it’s really heavy. It really hurts to see this happen to anyone, to kids … especially at the holiday season,” Hawkins said. “Families are going to be devastated. Our hearts go out to them. Three families are going to feel that forever. It hurts.”

Shortly before 2 p.m., a Central Ohio Transit Authority bus arrived at the church with band equipment that had been on the charter bus. At that time, only 13 of what at one time had been as many as 37 students had been picked up by their parents, Licking County EMA Director Sean Grady said.

Map of the crash site

Squads took victims to at least seven local hospitals including Licking Memorial Hospital, Nationwide Children's Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Pickerington Methodist hospital and Mount Carmel East hospital. It was not immediately known how many people were injured or what their conditions were.

Five patients are being treated by OhioHealth hospitals, a spokesperson confirmed.

Ohio Department of Transportation cameras from the area show smoke coming from the crash site.

The bus involved in the crash is from Pioneer Trails, a family-owned bus business based in Millersburg in Holmes County. In a statement of Facebook, Pioneer Trails "is fully cooperating with the authorities as we work to find the cause of the accident" and sends prayers to the victims and their families.

According to US Department of Transportation inspections, the company has had one other crash involving an injury in the last 24 months. The company received a satisfactory rating, meaning records indicate no evidence of substantial non-compliance with safety requirements.

Dispatchers have classified the incident as a "mass casualty incident, level 3," which indicates 10 or more people may have been injured and there will be a need for paramedics, fire crews and hospital readiness across the region. Casualty does not necessarily mean fatalities in the way it is used by dispatchers.

USA TODAY Network Ohio reporters Maria DeVito, Kent Mallett, Pam James and Nancy Molnar contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 'Mass casualty' crash kills 3, injures 15 on I-70 in Licking County