Buses Carrying High School Students Involved in Multi-Vehicle Crash, Two People Confirmed Dead in Missouri

An accident involving two buses packed with high school students, a passenger vehicle and a Volvo truck tractor has left two people dead and dozens of students injured. The buses were transporting high school band members to Six Flags Great Adventure theme park, a trip that the group took annually.

The multi-vehicle pile-up occurred at about 10 a.m. on Thursday August, 5, 2010, as the buses traveled behind the pickup and the tractor without a trailer on Interstate 44, near Gray Summit, Missouri.

The tractor, owned by Climate Express, apparently slowed for construction-related traffic when it was rear-ended by the pickup truck. The first bus, which authorities are saying was carrying girls, then slammed into the pickup with such force that it ran over and crushed the vehicle. The second bus, carrying high school boys, then barreled into the first bus.

The accident killed high school student, Jessica Brinker, 15, and Daniel Schatz, 19, driver of the GMC Sierra pickup truck that struck the rear of the stopped tractor.

Transportation authorities have begun a probe into the cause of the fatal collision.