Death toll from fiery Ohio chain-reaction crash involving bus rises to 6, including 3 teens

The death toll from the horrific multi-vehicle crash on an Ohio highway has risen to six, including three teenage students, with another 18 people injured, officials said.

Five vehicles were involved in the fiery wreck on I-70 Tuesday morning, including a Pioneer Trails charter bus carrying 54 high school marching band members and chaperones from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District to a marching band performance.

Three passengers on the bus were pronounced dead on the spot, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said Tuesday night. They were identified as John Mosely, 18, of Mineral City; Jeffery Worrell, 18, of Bolivar; and Katelyn Owens, 15, of Mineral City.

Worrell’s father, George Worrell III, posted a heartbreaking tribute to his son on Facebook overnight, writing: “My beautiful Son, your Mom and I love you so much.”

The grieving dad shared a photo of the teen playing the drum during one of his last marching band performances.

“Your Mom and I were amazed how the ray of light seemed to be shining directly on you, and now we know why,” he wrote. “We love you so much Jeffery.”

The charter bus was rear-ended by a semi-truck just before 9 a.m. near Etna, Ohio, sparking a chain-reaction crash that caused at least three vehicles to burst into flames.

A total of 15 students and the bus driver were transported to area hospitals. The remaining students were taken to a reunification site.

“This is our worst nightmare when we have a bus full of children involved in a crash,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said during a news conference at the scene. “Prayers go out to the families, everyone who was on the bus.”

The adults who died were a teacher and two parent chaperones who were traveling together in one of the passenger cars involved, the highway patrol said. They were identified as Dave Kennat, 56, of Navarre; Kristy Gaynor, 39, of Zoar; and Shannon Wigfield, 45, of Bolivar.

The students and chaperones were en route to Columbus to perform at an Ohio School Boards Association conference.

Derek Varansky, the superintendent of the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District, said during a community prayer vigil Tuesday that the students who died were “bright lights full of life who lost their lives way too young.”

The conference was canceled after organizers learned of the crash, said spokesperson Jeff Chambers.

The driver of the other passenger vehicle was also taken to a hospital. Of the drivers of the two commercial vehicles involved, one was hospitalized with non-life-threatening and the other was treated at the scene, officials said.

The cause of the deadly crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

With Post wires