At least 35 injured in crash on I-64 of bus carrying Waggener High students
4:38 p.m.
Alicia Smiley, an LMPD spokeswoman, said at the scene that traffic investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accident.
4:33 p.m.
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said the NTSB was aware of the accident but was not investigating it.
An NTSB database shows Commonwealth has not been investigated by the federal agency for any previous accidents in Kentucky.
4:21 p.m.
David McArthur, a University Hospital spokesman, said no more patients were expected there beyond the 12 who had already arrived.
4:17 p.m.
The yellow bus with black markings involved in the accident says Commonwealth Bus Service on its side.
Commonwealth Bus Service & Transportation Inc., which was incorporated in 2004, has had no crashes in the past 24 months, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The business at 4400 Bishop Lane has 14 buses and employs 14 drivers who drove a combined 280,000 miles in 2010, the FMCSA web site says.
The company is licensed to operate as an interstate carrier and was given a “satisfactory” rating in a 2006 compliance review, but neither its drivers nor its buses have been inspected, according to the agency.
Federal and Jefferson Circuit Court records show that the company has never been sued or filed for bankruptcy.
State corporate records show that Shirley Wolf is its president and Suze Ann Amshoff, who died in 2010, was its former owner and operator.
4:14 p.m.
Kristen Miller of Louisville Metro EMS said 35 patients have been transported from the accident scene.
* Fourteen were about to be transported on the mass casualty bus to Kosair Children’s Hospital downtown with minor injuries.
* Nine were transported by Shelby County EMS to University Hospital with potentially serious but not life-threatening injuries.
* Two were taken by Shelby County EMS to Baptist Health with minor injuries.
* Six were taken by Louisville EMS to Norton Brownsboro Hospital with minor injuries.
* Two were taken by Yellow Ambulance to Norton Brownsboro Hospital with minor injuries.
* Two were taken by Yellow Ambulance to Norton Suburban Hospital with minor injuries.
Miller said that she’s heard reports that the crash was caused by a blown tire.
4:09 p.m.
JCPS said there were 73 students on two buses on the field trip to EKU, and 42 were on the bus involved in accident.
Waggener Principal Katy Zeitz was on her way to University Hospital to be with her students.
The students were all incoming sophomores and juniors at Waggener who were on a field trip funded by school improvement grants, JCPS said. The district is in the process of contacting the parent of every child.
4:07 p.m.
Baptist Health in Louisville reported receiving two teenage boys from the bus accident.
One complained of a headache and back soreness and the other of abdominal pains.
4:05 p.m.
Jerry Wallace, a spokesman at Eastern Kentucky University, said there were 72 juniors and seniors from Waggener who visited the campus Tuesday morning.
The students spent about an hour and a half on campus for an information session and tour before leaving for lunch in town.
3:52 p.m.
Thirteen of the injured have arrived at the emergency room at University Hospital, and five or six more were expected.
None had life-threatening injuries, according to Glen Franklin, a trauma surgeon at the hospital.
Some of the injured were juveniles, and the driver of the bus was taken to the hospital as well, Franklin said.
A number of the injured had broken bones, he said.
3:51 p.m.
Officials at Waggener High would not comment and people arriving at the school were being ushered inside.
3:47 p.m.
Westbound traffic on I-64 near the crash site has begun moving again after being at a standstill.
3:40 p.m.
Kristen Miller, the Louisville Metro EMS chief of staff, confirmed that Shelby County EMS has transported six of the injured to University Hospital and they were in “relatively serious condition.”
She said she was waiting for a report from another official on how many injured have been transported by ambulances for Metro EMS.
She said Metro EMS has also sent their “mass casualty” bus to the scene. Miller said it can hold up to 25 people and is for the “walking wounded,” who will be sent to various hospitals.
“You don’t want to flood any one hospital,” she said.
3:35 p.m.
A reporter at the scene reported seeing eight ambulances headed westbound on I-64 near the crash site.
3:24 p.m.
When reached by telephone, Mary Dunaway, who is listed as a director for Commonwealth Bus Service on incorporation forms filed with the Kentucky Secretary of State, said she did not know anything about the accident.
3:19 p.m.
Ben Jackey, a spokesman with JCPS, said the students were from Waggener High School on their way back to Louisville after visiting Eastern Kentucky University.
There were about 60 students on two buses who made the trip as part of a program to make early visits to colleges, he said.
The school district received a grant to send the students to colleges they may consider attending, Jackey said.
Jackey said he was unsure the number of students injured, but confirmed there are injuries.
3:17 p.m.
A photographer at the scene reported that seven people were being transported from the scene to hospitals downtown.
3:10 p.m.
At least three were critically injured and 15 others hurt Tuesday afternoon in a bus accident on westbound Interstate 64 at the Shelby County line, according to a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
The accident happened at about 2:37 p.m., a MetroSafe supervisor said.
There was a second accident on eastbound 64 that closed all but one lane and all westbound lanes were closed, according to Andrea Clifford, spokeswoman for the state transportation cabinet.