Update: School Bus, Two Trucks Collide in Deerfield

(Update at 10:30 p.m.) A total of 22 people were taken to the hospital today as the result of a collision between two trucks and a school bus, according to a news release from the Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Protection District.

Half of the 40 students on the bus sustained non life threatening injuries, according to the release. Of the 22 injured, 20 were students on the bus from Palombi Middle School in Lake Villa. The other two people hurt were the bus driver and one of the truck drivers.

The collision occurred at 9:30 a.m., according to the release. Representatives from Lake Villa School District 41 arrived at the scene after the crash to supervise the transfer of the uninjured students to another bus.

(Earlier at 11:33 a.m.) A school bus full of children from Palombi Middle School in Lake Villa collided with a two-axle box truck today on the Tristate Tollway just north of Deerfield Road sending 20 children to the hospital with non life threatening injuries.

Southbound traffic on the tollway was backed up from just north of Deerfield Road to Highway 60 in Lake Forest as the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Department of Transportation worked to assist the injured and clear the crash scene.

“All the injuries are non life threatening,” Sgt. Tim Moore, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Police, said. “They (the children) are being treated and taken to local hospitals.” Moore had no further information on the injuries.

According to a report on WBBM radio, 20 children were sent to local hospitals. Eight school buses were traveling together when one collided with the truck. The accident happened at approximately 10 a.m.

Traffic was still backed up to Highway 60 at 11 a.m. as officials worked to clear the scene. The truck was the size of a moving van, according to Moore.

The school buses from Lake Villa District 41 were reported by the Lake County News-Sun to be headed in a caravan to Allstate Arena in Rosemont on a school outing.