22 people, mostly kids, hurt in Tri-State Tollway bus crash

Twenty-two people, most of them children, were hurt Wednesday when a bus from Palombi Middle School in Lake Villa was involved in a crash on the Tri-State Tollway, police said.

Twenty students and two adults were taken to five suburban hospitals after the crash, which occurred about 9:30 a.m. on I-94 near Deerfield Road, Illinois State Police Sgt. Timothy Moore said. All of the injuries were minor.

“Bumps and bruises, mostly,” Moore said.

The bus was part of a nine-bus caravan on a field trip to the Allstate Arena in Rosemont for a Chicago Wolves hockey game, Lake Villa Elementary District 41 Business Director Patricia Volling said.

The crash occurred when two southbound box trucks behind the bus collided when traffic slowed, Moore said. One those vehicles hit the bus.

The victims were taken to Highland Park Hospital, Glenbrook Hospital, Advocate Lutheran General Medical Center, Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital and Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.

Some of the students texted their parents about the crash before school officials could issue an emergency alert message about it, District 41 Superintendent John Van Pelt said.

The field trip, which also involved students from other District 41 schools, went on as planned for most of the kids. However, the 319 Palombi students who weren’t hurt went back to school, Volling said.

The bus driver involved works for a transportation company and is not a district employee, Van Pelt said.

Regardless, getting students safely to school and field trips “is always our No. 1 priority,” Van Pelt said.

Deerfield firefighters were assisted on the scene by crews from the Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, Lake Forest, Wilmette and Northbrook fire departments, among others.

No tickets had been issued as of Wednesday afternoon. The accident remained under investigation.