One killed, 46 injured when bus, SUV collide on interstate

GREENFIELD, Ind. - A woman zipping through rush-hour traffic lost control of her sport-utility vehicle, crossed a highway median and slammed into an oncoming Greyhound bus. The motorist was killed and 46 people aboard the bus were injured.

Amy McKee-Everett, the driver of the sport-utility vehicle, had swerved to avoid a rear-end collision before her vehicle flew across the median, police said.

Police Chief Clarke Mercer said McKee-Everett was speeding and cutting in and out of traffic moments before the crash. She was not wearing a seat belt, he said. She was alone in her vehicle.

''I saw the SUV coming across the median,'' said Todd Turpin, of Anderson, who was driving in a vehicle behind the bus. ''The bus driver tried to veer to the right to get out of the way. But there was nothing he could do.''

McKee-Everett, 31, of Greenfield, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The accident happened during rush-hour traffic Monday on Interstate 70, about 25 miles east of Indianapolis, Hancock County Sheriff Nick Gulling said.

Mercer said all 45 bus passengers were injured, along with the bus' driver, Julian Stenger of Indianapolis. At least two people were admitted at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, both listed in fair condition Tuesday.

The bus was headed from New York to Los Angeles and had most recently stopped in Dayton, Ohio, Greyhound spokeswoman Kristin Parsley said. It was scheduled to stop in Indianapolis.

Police closed both lanes of the highway near the crash, which flipped the bus onto its side. Passengers sat in a field as rescue workers tended to the injured.

Truck driver Rick Tucker described passengers jumping out the windows of the wrecked bus. Someone brought a ladder to the scene so others could leave the bus through an escape hatch on the roof.

''I'm just thankful it didn't kill any of them,'' Tucker said.