ARLISLE, Pa. (AP) - A tour bus carrying a college's women's lacrosse
team to a game went off the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Saturday and
crashed into a tree, killing a pregnant coach and the driver and sending
others to hospitals, authorities said.
Lacrosse players from Seton Hill University and
three coaches were among the 23 people aboard when the bus crashed at
about 9 a.m., turnpike spokeswoman Renee Colborn said. It's not clear
what caused the crash, but state police were investigating, said Megan
Silverstram of the Cumberland County public safety department.
Kristina Quigley of Greensburg, 30, was flown to a
hospital and died there from injuries from the crash, Cumberland County
authorities said Saturday that. They say Quigley was about six months
pregnant and her unborn child did not survive. The driver, 61-year-old
Anthony Guaetta of Johnstown, died at the scene of the crash.
Two other victims were flown by helicopter to Penn
State Hershey Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Danielle Ran said.
She did not give their conditions. Officials said all other passengers
were taken to hospitals as a precaution.
The bus came to a stop upright on the side of the
road with part of its left side shorn off, photos from the scene showed,
though it's unclear whether that was from the impact or rescue
operation.
The bus operator, Mlaker Charter & Tours, of
Davidsville, Pa., sent investigators to the scene, company dispatcher
Kelly Hay said. The company had no information yet from the
investigators and could not comment, she said.
The company is up to date on its inspections, which
include bus and driver safety checks, said Jennifer Kocher, a
spokeswoman for the state Public Utility Commission, which regulates bus
companies.
The agency's motor safety inspectors could think of
no accidents or violations involving the company that would raise a red
flag, she said, though complete safety records were not available
Saturday.
State environmental officials were also sent to the scene because of a diesel fuel spill from the bus.
Seton Hill is a Catholic school of about 2,500
students near Pittsburgh. The team was to play Saturday afternoon at
Millersville University, about 50 miles from the crash site in central
Pennsylvania. Counseling service will be provided for students and
others, the school said, and an administrator was headed to the scene of
the crash to help students and their families there.
On Tuesday, another bus carrying college lacrosse
players from a Vermont team was hit by a sports car that spun out of
control on a wet highway in upstate New York, sending the bus toppling
onto its side, police said. One person in the car died.
And last month, a bus carrying 42 high school
students from the Philadelphia area and their chaperones slammed into an
overpass in Boston, injuring 35. Authorities said the driver had
directed the bus onto a road with a height limit.
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