Crash on I-90 leaves 8 dead

JEFF KOLKEY and ERIC R. OLSON, The Northwest Herald (Illinois), report:

Eight people were killed and five were in critical condition at area hospitals late Wednesday after a five-vehicle accident on Interstate 90.

The crash occurred just before 3 p.m. on eastbound I-90 as traffic slowed about a half-mile west of the Hampshire-Marengo toll plaza.

In the right lane of traffic, one semitrailer rear-ended the semi in front of it, Illinois State Police said.

The rear truck then caromed into a mini tour bus in the left lane, tearing apart the back end of the bus and killing seven of its 22 passengers on impact, state Trooper Doug Whitmore said.

An eighth passenger died Wednesday evening after being transported to Rockford Memorial Hospital.

"This was a major, major accident," Whitmore said.

Police would not release the names of those killed in the crash until their family members could be notified.

The 22 people aboard the bus were returning to Chicago after visiting Anderson Gardens, a Japanese garden in Rockford, Whitmore said.

They were members of a group called International Women Associates, a fellowship group for long-term visitors to Chicago. The women ranged in age from 40 to older than 70.

Most were in their 60s and 70s, according to area hospitals where they were treated.

The 57-year-old man driving the bus worked for Leisure Pursuits Charters, the Lake Bluff company that owned the bus.

Peter Penner, 56, was driving the lead semitrailer, owned by Penner International, of Steinbeck, Manitoba.

He said he felt his rig get rear-ended by the semitrailer behind him, a rig owned by Frontier Transportation, of Elk Grove Village.

Then Penner turned his head to look out the driver's-side window.

"That bus went flying by me," Penner said.

Seconds later, his truck was rear-ended by a pickup truck with Michigan license plates that was driven by a 67-year-old man.

After he was hit the second time, Penner got out of his rig to see what had happened. Passengers of the bus had been ejected in the crash, and some were lying in a ditch separating eastbound traffic from westbound traffic.

Penner said the driver of the pickup did not appear to be seriously hurt but was trapped inside his vehicle.

A third semitruck was involved in the crash, but police at the scene said it was unclear how it was hit.

Fire departments from Hampshire, Huntley, Marengo, Pingree Grove and Genoa-Kingston used ambulances and helicopters to transport 16 victims to hospitals in Elgin, Rockford and Park Ridge.

Five of the victims were listed in critical condition, with the others in serious or good condition.

The crash was a blur for most of the bus passengers treated Wednesday night at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, said Dr. Patrick Connor, the hospital's emergency medical director.

"The only one who recalled what they saw was sitting next to the driver," Connor said. "The one who remembers most said, 'We felt a big bang, ... and we were in a ditch.' "

Of the five patients taken to Provena St. Joseph, two were treated and released Wednesday night. The prognosis for all is good, Connor said.

Shane Christenson, 31, security officer for Provena St. Joseph, said the hospital staff took part in a mock disaster drill last week. The drill concerned a plane hitting a bus at Olson Airport in Plato Center, and Provena St. Joseph was to treat nine victims.

"It was almost the same, then this happens this week," Christenson said. "I was like, 'We just did this.' "

The pickup truck driver, bus driver and six women from the tour bus were taken to Sherman Hospital in Elgin between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Wednesday, said Neal Edelson, Sherman's emergency services director.

"It was just a complete disaster over there," Edelson said. "Most of the survivors were quite near the dead bodies."

Four of the eight victims at Sherman were treated and released Wednesday night. Hospital officials said all probably would survive.

I-90 was closed between Route 20 and Genoa Road for hours as rescuers and investigators worked to clear the scene. The work was difficult, even for the paramedics and firefighters who responded, Pingree Grove Fire Chaplain Paul Meyers said.

"They are holding up really well," Meyers said. "As well as anybody would."

Traffic was backed up for as much as an hour in some places as vehicles were rerouted around the accident. It took about 3.5 hours before traffic began trickling through the Hampshire-Marengo toll plaza again.

"Traffic was horrendous because both lanes were closed," Whitmore said.

Shaw News Service reporters Rob Phillips, Owen Brugh, Geneva White, Dan Chanzit, Aracely Hernandez and Steve Brosinski contributed to this story.

Status of those involved in Wednesday's crash

Rockford Memorial Hospital: One patient flown there by helicopter. The patient later died.

OSF St. Anthony's Hospital in Rockford: A woman flown by helicopter in critical condition.

Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin: Three people were in critical condition, two with neck injuries and chest fractures and one with a torso injury. Two others were treated and released.

Sherman Hospital in Elgin: Eight patients received. A 60-year-old woman was in critical condition with multiple rib fractures, a concussion and a liver injury but is expected to survive. A 40-year-old woman was in serious condition with concussion, a 66-year-old woman was in serious condition, and the pickup driver, a 67-year-old man, was in serious condition. Three women, ages 69, 73 and 78, and the 57-year-old male bus driver were treated and released.

Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge: One patient flown by helicopter, considered critical.

Copyright - 1998-2002 Northwest Herald Newspapers

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