By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
THREE children and two adults were killed after a school bus collided with a semitruck on U.S. Route 24 in Illinois on Monday, according to ABC News.
During a press briefing, Illinois State Police said the fatal collision between the school bus and the semitruck carrying sand happened on the highway in Rushville just few minutes before noon.
Preliminary reports indicate the bus was heading East on Route 24 and for an unknown reason, crossed over into the Westbound lanes in front of the semi-truck, police said.
Both vehicles erupted into flames after the collision.
The school bus was transporting three children at the time of the crash.
Sadly, the three children, as well as both drivers, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Schuyler County Coroner Terry Millslagle told our source, ABC News, that the children who died in the accident were preschoolers.
All of the families of the victims have been contacted.
Schuyler County coroner released the identities of the two adults as: David Coufal, 72 and 57-year-old Angela Spiker, as well as the three children: Noah Driscoll, 3, Maria Miller, 5, and 3-year-old Andrew Miller.
Schuyler-Industry Schools confirmed the incident with a statement in a Facebook post on Monday:
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce our school community has lost both staff and students in the traffic incident involving one of our school buses this morning.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and our community.”
The school district canceled school on Tuesday and Wednesday, following the incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it will investigate:
“The NTSB, in coordination with Illinois State Police, is sending a team to conduct a safety investigation into Monday’s multivehicle collision involving a school bus and a truck tractor in combination with a semitrailer on U.S. Highway 24 in Rushville, Schuyler County, Illinois.”
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