Students Return from Turnpike Crash in Eastern Pa.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - May 4, 2007 -- High school students from suburban Pittsburgh are back home this morning, a day after their charter bus crashed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike as they traveled to a band competition in New Jersey.

The driver, 49-year-old Timothy Berkshire, remains seriously injured in the hospital, but the 29 students and 11 adult passengers suffered mostly scrapes and bruises.

Authorities say students from Elizabeth Forward High School near Pittsburgh were on their way to the Tournament of Bands Weekend in Wildwood, New Jersey, when the bus ran into the back of a tractor-trailer.

State police say the crash occurred at about 4:30 a-m yesterday, about 35 miles west of Philadelphia.

Band director David Cornelius remained hospitalized overnight, but he's expected to be released today.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•