Crash of Charter Bus Kills Six

Phoenix, AZSix people died in a commercial passenger bus crash early this morning on Interstate 10 south of Phoenix, Arizona. According to a spokesperson with the Arizona Department of Public Safety (ADPS), the the bus rear ended a car while gliding along the highway.

Early reports suggested that the bus came into collision with a semi, but it was later determined the truck was not involved in the crash. ADPS spokesperson Bart Graves indicated that two men and four women died when the bus veered off the road and rolled over. Fifteen of the 21 passengers on the bus were transported to area hospitals in the Phoenix area. Five suffered serious injuries in the collision and were transported to hospital by air ambulance.

Graves indicated that three children are among the injured, including an 11-year-old boy who is in critical condition with two cracked ribs. The Associated Press reports that a 16-year-old girl was also injured.

Eight survivors, including the bus driver, are being treated at the Maricopa Medical Center for injuries including bleeding in the brain, damaged lungs, broken spines and broken pelvises. Six of the eight patients have life-threatening injuries, said Michael Murphy, a spokesman for the Center.

The deaths and injuries were confined to the passengers on board the charter bus, owned by Tierra Santa, a company based out of Los Angeles. Two vehicles, the semi-truck and a passenger car, also crashed after the bus veered off the road. The accidents involved no injuries.

Nearly all the windows in the bus were smashed in during the rollover or by officers trying to reach injured survivors. The top of the bus was partially caved in and severely mangled.

The crash, the cause of which was not immediately known, blocked both westbound lanes of Interstate 10. CNN reported that emergency crews treated some of the injured at the crash site.

It was not immediately clear where the bus originated or where it was heading at the time of the crash.