An accident involving a tour bus and a maintenance vehicle on I-80 was reported to have claimed the life of the bus driver and injured five passengers from the bus. Occupants of the maintenance vehicle were not harmed during the accident.
According to the report, the bus crashed into the maintenance vehicle that was parked on the side of the freeway. This accident occurred around 6 p.m. in the eastbound lanes near mile marker 34.
Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Corey Nye disclosed that the Le Bus tour bus, carrying about 50 passengers, was headed east out of Wendover when the accident occurred. Nye stated that maintenance trucks were slowing down in the left-hand lane and turning into the median to begin working on the barriers of I-80 where the accident happened.
A witness of the accident identified as Brady Warnock stated that the bus swerved out of the right lane to pass a car that had slowed down. The bus was not able to brake in time before crashing into the back of the maintenance vehicle, which was identified as a drill truck. There was an auger at the back of the maintenance vehicle that pierced through the windshield of the bus and into the driver’s seat, impaling the driver, who died at the scene.
According to one of the men from the maintenance crew, their trucks had their hazard lights on and should have been visible, especially since it was still daylight at the time.
The report indicated that three bus passengers were taken to the hospital by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries. Two other passengers, who were sitting behind the bus driver, had more serious injuries and were flown to the hospital in critical condition.
The uninjured bus passengers were transferred to another bus and continued to Salt Lake City around 9 p.m.
State troopers are still investigating the accident to determine who is at-fault. The report concluded that the left lane of eastbound I-80 remained closed during the investigation
Original article by Jed Boal of ksl.com
Image courtesy of Ken Lund