Greyhound bus in Illinois crashes into parked semis; 3 dead, 14 severely injured

At least three people were killed and more than a dozen injured after a Greyhound bus slammed into several commercial vehicles parked along an exit ramp on Interstate 70 in Highland, Ill., authorities said.

The brutal crash unfolded early Wednesday in Madison County around 1:54 a.m. According to Illinois state police, the bus was traveling westbound when it struck three semi-trucks parked in the off-ramp by the Silver Lake Rest area.

“Three fatalities are confirmed and multiple others were taken to a hospital with serious injuries,” ISP said in a statement. “No one in the commercial motor vehicles were injured.”

A total of 14 people so far, including the bus driver, have been hospitalized, police said. Four of those injured in the wreck were transported by helicopter while at least 10 were transported by ambulance,

Greyhound in a statement to KMOV said its bus was traveling from Indianapolis to St. Louis when the wreck occurred.

“Our primary concern is ensuring we care for our passengers and driver at this time,” the bus company said. “We are working closely with local authorities and a relief bus is on the way for passengers.”

State troopers closed westbound I-70 to traffic between mileposts 28 and 24. As of about 5 a.m., one lane had been reopened, but the traffic remains backed up for miles, Fox2Now reported

Authorities have encouraged motorists to take Highway 40 WB as an alternate route.

First responders and rescue crews remained on the scene Wednesday morning. A cause for the deadly crash remains under investigation,