3 dead, 15 injured in 'mass casualty' crash; I-70 near Ohio 310 in Licking County closed

Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
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A crash involving multiple vehicles has closed both directions of Interstate 70 in Licking County.
A crash involving multiple vehicles has closed both directions of Interstate 70 in Licking County.

Three people are dead and 15 others injured after a "mass casualty incident" involving a charter bus and a semi on Interstate 70, near the State Route 310 interchange in Ohio.

Around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, dozens of emergency personnel from across Licking County and eastern Franklin County were dispatched to the area on a report of a crash. Scanner traffic indicated that a tractor-trailer hit a commercial bus carrying dozens of passengers.

Photographs from the scene show at least one other passenger vehicle that appears to have been involved in the crash but it was not immediately known how many vehicles were involved.

Ohio Department of Transportation cameras from the area show smoke coming from the crash site.

Patients have been taken by squad to at least five local hospitals: Licking Memorial Hospital, Nationwide Children's Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, OhioHealth Pickerington Methodist hospital and Mount Carmel East hospital. It was not immediately known how many people were injured or what their conditions were.

Five patients are being treated by OhioHealth hospitals, a spokesperson confirmed.

The bus involved in the crash appears to be from Pioneer Trails, a family-owned bus business based in Millersburg in Holmes County. When asked by The Dispatch on Tuesday if a bus from the company was involved in the crash, an employee said it wasn't their department and hung up on a reporter.

Dispatchers have classified the incident as a "mass casualty incident, level 3," which indicates 10 or more people may have been injured and there will be a need for paramedics, fire crews and hospital readiness across the region. Casualty does not necessarily mean fatalities in the way it is used by dispatchers.

The highway is closed in both directions as crews continue to assess the situation.

Additional details were not immediately available.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 'Mass casualty' crash kills 3, injures 15 on I-70 in Ohio