Three student-athletes from a Chicago high school hockey team were seriously injured when a tractor-trailer rammed the school bus they were riding in on Saturday night, KTLA sister station WANE reports.
In addition to the three seriously injured students, 13 other people on the bus were also injured, according to police.
Police said the bus was carrying 26 people, including two coaches, the bus driver and the St. Ignatius College Prep high school hockey team.
The team, which was in Indiana for the weekend for a tournament, had dinner in Warsaw, Indiana, and were heading to a hotel at the time of the crash, police said.
Before the crash happened, police said they were tipped off by reports of a tractor-trailer swerving into other lanes and speeding up.
Warsaw police were on their way to ‘intercept’ the tractor-trailer when they were informed that it had hit a school bus. Several first responders responded to the scene and it was determined that several children had been injured, police said.
Police said the ages of the student-athletes ranged between 14 and 17, with most being 15.
Doctors transported two of the seriously injured student-athletes to a hospital in Fort Wayne. The other seriously injured student-athlete, along with others in need of medical attention, were taken to a hospital in Warsaw.
An initial investigation showed that one of the student-athletes was ejected from the bus as it turned, police said. The semi hit the rear right side of the bus.
Police said the driver of the semiconductor had slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. The semiconductor failed a field sobriety test, according to Warsaw police.
Police asked the driver to consent to a chemical test, but police say he refused. A search warrant was granted, allowing officers to take the driver to hospital for a blood test.
The driver was identified as Victor Santos, 58, of Brooklyn, New York. He was charged with a felony of acting while intoxicated causing grievous bodily harm.
The accident is still under investigation.
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