According to a report on CNN.com, the buses were carrying 8th to 12th grade band students from the St. James school district to Six Flags amusement park. Thirty-six of the children on board the buses were taken to SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis. Four others were taken to St. John's Mercy Medical Hospital in Washington, MO, and five children were taken to St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis.
The accident has closed a four mile strip of the I-44 highway eastbound between Route O/US 50 West and Route 100 West/Washington.