School Bus, Truck Collide in Deerfield

About 20 minutes northeast of Arlington Heights, a school bus full of children collided with a two-axle box truck Wednesday.

Carrying students from Palombi Middle School in Lake Villa, the school bus was on the Tristate Tollway, just north of Deerfield Road, when it collided with a truck. The accident sent 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.