6 killed in fiery, multi-vehicle crash on I-70W identified by Ohio Highway Patrol

ETNA – The Ohio Highway Patrol has identified the six people killed in a fiery crash Tuesday that involved a charter bus, a tractor-trailer, another commercial vehicle, and two passenger vehicles on Interstate 70 westbound in Licking County, about a half-mile before the Route 310 Etna interchange.

The Highway Patrol said the chain-reaction crash occurred at 8:52 a.m. on I-70 as all the vehicles were traveling west. At least three of the vehicles caught fire as a result of the crash, the patrol said.

The charter bus was occupied by a driver and 54 students, teachers and chaperones from Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools in Zoarville, Tuscarawas County, who on their way to the last day of the Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus.

Three students on the bus were killed: John W. Mosely, 18, and Katelyn N. Owens, 15, both of Mineral City; and Jeffery D. Worrell, 18, of Bolivar, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol Granville Post.

The other three killed were a teacher and two other chaperones who were accompanying the students in one of the two passenger vehicles involved in the crash. They are: Dave Kennat, 56, of Navarre; Kristy Gaynor, 39, of Zoar; and Shannon Wigfield, 45, of Bolivar.

Wigfield was both a teacher and chapeone from Buckeye Career Center, according to Bob Alsept at the career center.

By shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday, dozens of emergency personnel from across Licking County and eastern Franklin County had responded to the crash area on I-70 and area hospitals had been placed on alert for what dispatchers classified as a "mass casualty incident, level 3." That indicates 10 or more people may have been injured, and does not necessarily mean fatalities, but indicates there is a need for paramedics, fire crews and hospital readiness across the region.

Besides the three students killed, 15 other students and the bus driver were injured and transported to area hospitals. The remaining students were taken to a reunification site in Etna Township.

The driver of the semi that appeared to have struck the bus from behind during the crash was transported to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Downtown, with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the other commercial vehicle was treated and released at the scene, according to the Highway Patrol.

In addition, the patrol said the driver of the second passenger vehicle was also transported to an area hospital.

Medic squads took victims from the crash to at least seven area hospitals, including Licking Memorial Hospital in Newark, Nationwide Children's Hospital, OhioHealth Grant Medical Center and Mount Carmel East hospital in Columbus, and OhioHealth Pickerington Methodist hospital.

Of those reporting receiving injured, OhioHealth initially reported treating five for minor injuries. Four were reported taken to Mount Carmel East, one of whom was transferred to Nationwide Children's Hospital where some others injured were reported taken. Mount Carmel Reynoldsburg treated and released three.

The Ohio School Boards Association canceled the last day of its annual convention in the wake of the crash. The event, which began Sunday and was to end Tuesday, features speakers, a trade show and a student success exposition, according to the OSBA website.

"Given this devastating news, we have canceled (the remainder of) our conference," an association statement read. "Right now, our focus is on providing support to Tuscarawas Valley. That includes making grief counselors from our trade show available."

'Sick to my stomach': Tuscarawas Valley school students, chaperones on bus

Tuscarawas Valley Superintendent Derek Varansky said the district's focus on Tuesday morning and into the afternoon was "getting in touch with our Tusky Valley families who had loved ones on the bus and providing support to our entire school community."

On Tuesday night, Varansky said "school WILL be in session (Wednesday) but it will not be a normal day.”

A steady stream of vehicles pulled into the Tuscarawas Valley Middle-High School parking lot Tuesday morning, as parents came to pick up their grief-stricken children. Staff members came to the vehicles, conferred with the drivers and then went back into the school to retrieve their children.

"I'm sick. I'm sick to my stomach," parent Laurie Fragasse said when she picked up her daughter, Camrynn, just before noon.

Camrynn, an eighth grader, said she was scared and sad.

"I don't really know how to feel right now," she said.

Tusky Valley families reunified at Etna reunification site

By 2 p.m., almost all of the students not transported to the hospital had been reunified with their students at the Etna United Methodist Church. In total, 34 students were taken there after the crash, said Don Hawkins, regional communications manager for the Red Cross of Central and Southern Ohio, which Licking County Emergency Management contacted for help.

“Whenever something like this happens, we work with local EMA to assist them,” Hawkins said.

Mount Carmel East hospital, a Level 2 trauma center on Columbus' Far East Side, also requested and received 30 extra units of blood, he added.

“It’s heavy; it’s really heavy. It really hurts to see this happen to anyone, to kids … especially at the holiday season,” Hawkins said. “Families are going to be devastated. Our hearts go out to them. Three families are going to feel that forever. It hurts.”

Shortly before 2 p.m., a Central Ohio Transit Authority bus arrived at the church with band equipment that had been on the charter bus involved in the crash. At that time, only 13 of what at one time had been as many as 37 students had been picked up by their parents, Licking County EMA Director Sean Grady said.

Map of the crash site

Vigil to remember classmates, neighbors

A prayer vigil was held Tuesday night at Tuscarawas Valley High School football field, where the home stands were full. There were a lot of tears and hugs, and some students involved in the crash were present — one wearing a brace.

During a news conference earlier Tuesday at a rest stop on I-70, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said his prayers go out to all involved in the crash and their families.

“This is our worst nightmare when we have a bus full of children involved in a crash and certainly the worst nightmare families can endure or a school can endure, DeWine said.

DeWine spoke to media again about 2:30 p.m., saying he visited the reunification center where he spoke with at least one mother picking up her child and other students and expressed his sympathies.

The governor ordered flags be flown at half-staff in Tuscarawas County, where the school students were from, and at the Statehouse in Columbus, in memory of the victims.

NTSB investigators to be at crash site Wednesday

The National Transportation Safety Board will also be conducting an investigation into the crash. In a briefing Tuesday night from John Glenn Columbus International Airport, the NTSB said investigators plan to be at the crash site on I-70 west on Wednesday to begin a preliminary investigation that will produce a report ready in about 10 days. The full, in-depth investigative report into the crash won't be completed for 12 to 18 months.

Before the NTSB investigators arrived in Columbus, the vehicles in the crash were already being removed and some road repair work was underway.

Interstate 70 west in crash area reopened

Ohio Department of Transportation spokesperson Matt Bruning said earlier Wednesday to expect a lengthy closure of I-70 in both directions while the investigation into the crash was underway.

As of about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, eastbound lanes of I-70 had reopened. Motorists were being warned to not slow down to take pictures or video and to keep traffic moving to prevent another crash.

But Bruning said pavement repairs and repaving would be needed to reopen westbound lanes on I-70 where the crash occurred because of the fire that resulted and its impact on the pavement.

A construction crew was standing by to make those repairs as quickly as possible, but there was no immediate timetable for that work, he said.

On Tuesday night, Bruning confirmed that section of I-70 west remained closed and said it would still be closed Wednesday morning. However, Bruning reported that contractors and ODOT had already started making repairs and were making progress.

Bruning said he was optimistic the work needed to reopen I-70 west lanes would be done Wednesday, but could not give an exact time late Tuesday night.

Howeever, early Wednesday morning, Interstate 70 westbound had reopened and was ready for the busy morning commute.

Neither bus company nor trucking company have serious past offenses, federal records show

The bus involved in the crash is from Pioneer Trails, a family-owned bus business based in Millersburg in Holmes County that has been in business for more than 40 years. In a statement on Facebook, Pioneer Trails said it "is fully cooperating with the authorities as we work to find the cause of the accident" and sends prayers to the victims and their families.

According to U.S. Department of Transportation inspection records, the bus company has had one other crash involving an injury in the last 24 months. The company received a satisfactory rating, meaning records indicate no evidence of substantial noncompliance with safety requirements.

Pioneer issued a statement saying that it was cooperating with the investigation into the crash and that its thoughts and prayers were for the victims.

Mid State Systems, based in Hebron, Licking County, was identified by authorities as the owner of the tractor-trailer that appeared to collide with the rear of the cahrter bus during the crash and caught fire. U.S. Department of Transportation records show no incidents involving the firm going back to 2017. Company officials could not be reached Tuesday by The Dispatch for comment.

USA TODAY Network Ohio reporters Maria DeVito, Kent Mallett, Pam James and Nancy Molnar contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio bus crash kills 6, injures 18 on I-70 in Licking County