HIGHLAND, Ill. – Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive on Thursday to determine the cause of a deadly Greyhound bus crash near Highland, Illinois.
Three people were killed and at least 14 others were hurt when the bus struck three big rigs parked on the shoulder of Interstate 70. The names of the victims have not been released.
The passenger bus was supposed to pull in at the Greyhound station in downtown St. Louis from Indianapolis, and was just miles away from reaching its destination. Authorities are still trying to determine how something so tragic could happen.
Semi-truck driver David Cherno says he was taking a nap on the side of the road around 2 a.m. Wednesday. when his truck was struck on the rear driver’s side by the Greyhound bus.
“I ran to my truck and got the fire extinguisher,” Cherno said. “I put the fire out.”
When he woke up, Cherno thought he was dreaming.
“I woke up in the air. I wasn’t touching anything. I was floating, moving forward quick,” he said.
After realizing what had happened, Cherno acted fast to help people off the bus before the arrival of first responders.
“It was bad. And the right side of the bus was destroyed. It was gone. My concern was to see how to get the people out,” he said. “I turned the bus off, so it would not catch fire. I got five people out of the window then the tire was catching on fire.”
Greyhound issued a statement Wednesday morning in the wake of the crash, which reads, in part: “We can confirm an incident occurred this morning involving Greyhound schedule number 1675 traveling from Indianapolis to St. Louis. Multiple passengers, including our driver, have been transported to the hospital. Our primary concern is ensuring we care for our passengers and driver at this time.”
NTSB officials have said rest area safety will be part of the investigation.