On Saturday afternoon, a bus that was on its way back from a church camp in Michigan headed towards Indiana crashed only a few minutes away from home, taking the lives of three people, while 26 injured were sent to hospitals, said officials.
The bus hit the retaining wall coming in a high speed, twisted around a curve and overturned.
The accident took place at around 4:15 pm, which was the time of arrival stated by the church’s youth pastor in a tweet. According to the director of Public Safety of Indianapolis, what adds to the tragedy is that they were just so near to home.
Among the dead were a man and his wife, while the identity of the third victim was not provided by the authorities, said Riggs, the director.
The crash site was covered with scattered cloths, seat cushions, pillows and two shattered windows as well. Before heading to the church, Riggs and Mayor Greg Ballard visited the crash site and witnessed all of this. According to Riggs, the accident was a great tragedy, because after the observation of the crash site, they came to the conclusion that they saw no sign that would indicate that the driver had any medical emergency. Ballard said investigations were being carried out on the bus and the crash scene as to figure out the real cause for such a tragedy.
The witnesses were told by the driver that his brakes had failed, WTHR-TV reported. However, it was not mentioned that the bus owned by the church, which carried 37 passengers had any mechanical issues, said the Indianapolis Fire Department Lt. Ato McTush.
5 people were trapped inside the bus after the accident and were freed by the crew, said the Fire Department of Indianapolis. Even before the very first responders arrived, people had stopped by to help the victims. One such man pulled the driver from the bus. The victims included children and adults, as reported by the fire officials.
Nine of the victims of the crash, including one in critical condition, were sent to the IU Health Methodist Hospital. According to the hospital spokeswoman Sally Winter, three of those nine were treated and released. On the other hand, she added that ten others were sent to the Riley Hospital for Children. Seven out of those ten were treated and discharged, she confirmed
People were urged to use caution nearby the accident scene, and roads were closed. The diesel spills were in the meanwhile being cleaned by the hazardous materials crew.