25 injured after bus from Phoenixville, Pa. company crashes on I-95 in Maryland
RAW VIDEO: Tour bus crash in I-95 in Maryland (WPVI)
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. (WPVI) -- A local fire company says more than 25 people are injured after a charter bus owned by a Phoenixville, Pa. company overturned on Interstate 95 in northeastern Maryland.
The Werner Coach bus crashed in the Havre de Grace area on Monday morning.
Rescuers say two critically injured patients were flown to hospitals.
Maryland State Police say there were 26 children, three chaperones and one driver on board.
Those flown to the hospital include one adult and one child.
There was no immediate word on the identities of the passengers.
Video from the scene shows a person on a stretcher being wheeled away from the overturned bus to a waiting medevac helicopter and other patients being carried to ambulances.
There's damage to the hill and guardrail on the right side of the highway.
A number of Philadelphia police officers could be seen nearby. Officials say the officers were not involved in the crash, but happened upon the scene while on the way to Police Week in Washington, D.C.
The highway was stopped in both directions while helicopters landed, but northbound traffic is flowing again.
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A charter bus has crashed on Interstate 95 in Havre de Grace, injuring more than two dozen passengers and causing delays to travelers in both directions, Harford County fire officials said.
The bus was carrying 26 children and three chaperones, plus a driver, according to Maryland State Police. An adult and one child were flown away from the scene. Others were treated at the scene or transported to area hospitals by ambulance, and no fatalities had been reported as of 11:30 a.m., state police said.
The crash took place Monday morning near mile marker 89 on the southbound travel lanes near Havre de Grace, fire officials said.
The Susquehanna Hose Company said at least 25 people were injured in the crash, including two in critical condition. Emergency crews from surrounding jurisdictions — including from Aberdeen and Level fire companies, as well as from Cecil County — were providing assistance to the Havre de Grace-based volunteer fire company and the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps.
One child was flown to Nemours duPont Hospital in Delaware and an adult was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma center in Baltimore. The Susquehanna Hose Company said that 25 children and three adults were taken by ambulance to Harford Memorial, Upper Chesapeake and Christiana hospitals.
(Sean Welsh)
The crash took place around 9:30 a.m., closing all lanes of I-95 in both directions, the Maryland Transportation Authority said. Northbound traffic was reopened before 11 a.m., but the Susquehanna Hose Company urged motorists to use alternate routes. State police said southbound traffic would be closed for at least three hours.
A passenger car was involved in the crash, and the driver was being interviewed, state police said.
Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley said preliminary information indicated the bus was from a Pennsylvania school on a field trip to Washington D.C.
A coach bus overturned on Insterstate 95 South in Harford County Monday, injuring at least 25 people, the Susquehanna Hose Company said. (Courtesy Susquehanna Hose Company on Twitter)
The bus was operated by charter company Werner Coach, according to a company spokesman. The Pennsylvania-based bus company operates charters throughout the region. A Werner spokesperson said the company was "still compiling" information from the scene, but could not provide additional information about the bus origin, destination or passengers.
Aerial footage of the crash showed the white bus rolled over on the driver's side with front-end damage, as well as damage to trees on the right shoulder of the road, and the guardrail along the right shoulder.
Havre de Grace Police have blocked access to southbound I-95 via the ramp from Route 155, and traffic is crawling in both directions on Route 155 — which leads from the interstate to both U.S. 1 and U.S. 40 in Havre de Grace.
Werner Bus Lines, doing business as Werner Coach, earned a satisfactory rating from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Commission in 2015, the year of its last rating.
According to the federal safety records, the carrier has been involved in two crashes, one on I-95 in Delaware in February and another in Pennsylvania in October. Neither involved injures, but the buses needed to be towed away.
The company owns 24 buses and three mini-buses. It employs 38 drivers and drives more than two million miles a year.
Its been cited for 61 violations in 58 inspections over the past two years, mostly for maintenance issues, but including a handful of driver violations, ranging from using a mobile device while driving and exceeding the 10-hour driving limit.
