7 students among 8 hurt in I-75 crash involving school buses headed to football game

WEST CHESTER TWP. — Seven students were among the injured Friday night in a four-vehicle, chain-reaction crash on I-75 North involving three school buses carrying a Cincinnati-area high school football team to a playoff game.

In all, eight people were injured. All were aboard the buses and were taken to area hospitals after suffering non-life-threatening injuries, the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Hamilton Post said in a statement to News Center 7.

The patrol’s Lebanon Dispatch Center received a call about 5:23 p.m. reporting a multi-vehicle crash involving three school buses in the northbound lanes of I-75 near Cincinnati-Dayton Road in West Chester Twp.

Troopers on scene learned the three Northwest Local Schools buses were in the right lane when they came upon stopped traffic. The lead bus stopped abruptly, which led to a chain-reaction crash involving all three buses and a Ford pickup.

The Colerain High School team was on those buses. They were headed to a playoff game versus Mason. Kickoff was delayed because of the crash, the Mason head coach said.

The crash remains under investigation, the patrol said.

INITIAL REPORT

Eight people have been injured tonight in a crash on I-75 North in Butler County involving three school buses transporting the Colerain High School football team to a playoff game.

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers responded to the interstate, north of Cincinnati-Dayton Road, on the report of a crash, our news partner WCPO.com is reporting, quoting West Chester officials.

Eight people were injured. Four of them have been taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, but everyone is believed to have minor injuries. Officials with Colerain High, part of the Northwest School District, posted this message via social media not long after the crash:

Students who were not injured are being put on other buses, according to West Chester.

Mason head coach Brian Castner said the first-round playoff game between Mason and Colerain is now scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

Mason football players held a group-led prayer for the Colerain students affected by the crash.

We will update this developing report as more details become available.

©2022 Cox Media Group