Megabus Crash Kills 1, Injures 33 Others In Illinois

Discount bus carrier Megabus suffered a tragedy on Thursday when a passenger was killed during a routine travel route in southern Illinois. The accident also injured 33 passengers, including several critical injuries.

The accident which occurred 55 miles north of Litchfield led to a rapid rescue response that included thirty ambulances and five emergency helicopters from local municipalities.

Speaking to NBC station KSDK-TV Illinois State Police revealed that the singular death occurred on the second floor of the bus directly above the driver. The female passenger who died was identified as 25-year-old Adity Avhad of India.

While State Police revealed the number of injuries aboard the bus they have not yet released details about those injuries, only reporting that several passengers were “critically injured.”

One of the injured aboard the Megabus accident was the buses driver who was rushed to the hospital to undergo surgery. The driver is expected to pull through, their status has not been listed as life-threatening.

The Megabus was running from Chicago to St. Louis and had sold 81 tickets for the trip however police only discovered 64 passengers on the buses manifest. It’s not clear why such a discrepancy between the manifest and actual passengers exists.

The exact cause of the accident is not yet confirmed but Illinois State Police believe a tire blew out which forced the Megabus off the road and into a concrete pillar.

Here’s video footage of the Megabus crash courtesy of The Associated Press:

[iframe src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/cGFexAnL6Sw” width=”560? height=”315?]

Phillip Keophaphone, 24, of Kansas City told the Chicago Tribune:

“Honestly, I was asleep. I just woke up to screaming. It was like a movie. Just God willing, there was a lot of helpful people.”

Some passengers were treated on the scene and others were rushed to local area hospitals.