June 11, 2013: In this image taken from video from WHAS11-TV, emergency crews respond to a crash involving a bus carrying students on a college campus visit on on Interstate 64 near the Shelby County line in Louisville, Ky. The bus was a charter service and had 42 students aboard, said Jefferson County public schools spokesman Ben Jackey. (AP/WHAS11-TV)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A bus carrying students on a college campus visit veered out of control and crashed on a Kentucky interstate Tuesday, and nearly three dozen people were taken to hospitals, authorities said.
Thirty students from Waggener High School in Louisville were taken to hospitals with various injuries, along with four adults aboard the bus -- including the driver, said Jody Duncan, a spokeswoman for Metro Safe, the emergency management agency for Louisville and Jefferson County.
The injured were taken to at least five area hospitals and all were reported to be in stable condition by early Tuesday evening, said Barbara DiMecurio, director of emergency services at University of Louisville Hospital.
Norton Healthcare spokeswoman Maggie Roetker said 21 children were originally taken to three of its hospitals. Four remained hospitalized Tuesday night, she said.
Police investigators were looking into possible mechanical failure on the bus as a cause, which could include the tire trouble, said Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley.
The Courier-Journal's website showed video of the crash. A dashboard camera from a truck showed the bus suddenly veering left across three lanes of traffic and hitting a concrete median, leaving a trail of debris in the roadway.
Waggener Principal Katy Zeitz expressed relief that the injured students were in stable condition.
The students, who will be juniors and seniors in the next school year, were on their way back to Louisville after visiting Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, said Jefferson County public schools spokesman Ben Jackey said.
The adults aboard the bus included staff from Waggener, he said.
The group was being transported by a charter bus service, Jackey said.
TV video showed the injured being placed in ambulances at the crash scene.
The crash occurred around 2:30 p.m. EDT as the bus was headed westbound on Interstate 64 near the Jefferson-Shelby county line.
The students were participating in a program that gives students a chance to visit different college campuses, Jackey said.
The bus had about 41 people on board, including 36 students, said Dr. Glen Franklin, a University of Louisville Hospital trauma surgeon. Eleven people aboard were taken to UofL Hospital and nine had been admitted, all in stable condition, he said.
A second bus carrying Waggener students on the college outing was not involved in the crash, Jackey said. That bus eventually returned safely to the Louisville school and dropped off students, he said.
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman Andrea Clifford said a second accident occurred nearby in the eastbound lanes of I-64.
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