Bus catches fire on Illinois highway, delaying field trip

GILMAN, Ill. (AP) - Students from a Champaign high school on their way to a field trip had to evacuate the bus that was shuttling them to Chicago after it started smoking and eventually caught fire.

The News-Gazette in Champaign reports (http://bit.ly/1SxrDwG ) 35 students and five teachers boarded the bus Thursday morning and had traveled about 50 miles up Interstate 57 without issue.

Teacher Veronica Thompson tells the newspaper an alarm started beeping and smoke began to fill the back of the bus.

The driver pulled over, and Peoria Charter owner Bill Winkler says every passenger was safely evacuated "well before" flames appeared near the back and inside of the bus.

A replacement bus took the group on to Chicago, where they were to visit an art museum. No one was injured.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com