According to reports, 6 students are in critical condition and nearly 40 were injured on the bus chartered by the UMass Ski and Board Club.
Rescue workers place an injured passenger on a stretcher at the scene of a bus rollover on Interstate 91 in Putney, Vt. Friday Dec. 3, 2010. The accident, which closed the southbound lanes of the interstate, resulted in multiple injuries. Ambulances were dispatched from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont to assist the injured. (AP Photo/Jason R. Henske)An updated version of this story has been posted: » Click here
Update, 8:01 p.m.: Photo gallery from scene added.
Update, 6:57 p.m.: Statement from UMass added.
PUTNEY, Vt. - Vermont State Police confirmed late Friday afternoon that students from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst were on a bus that rolled over and crashed on Interstate 91 about 3:51 p.m.
A press release issued by state police stated a group of students was traveling in three buses, but only one bus was involved in the accident. The crash occurred on Interstate 91 southbound at mile marker 22, according to Vermont State Police information officer Stephanie Dasaro.
No information about the students or the extent of their injuries, if any, was available from the UMass news office.
The university issued this statement just before 7 p.m.:
An undetermined number of UMass Amherst students were apparently on a bus that crashed in southern Vermont and was part of a private ski tour, according to campus spokesman Ed Blaguszewski. "At this point, we are gathering information about this event," Blaguszewski said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to those people who were injured in the crash.
The online news site for The Brattleboro Reformer in Brattleboro, Vt., reported that six college students were in critical condition and nearly 40 were injured. Nearly two dozen ambulances from as far away as Keene, N.H., and Winchester, N.H. were sent to the scene to transport victims to hospitals in Brattleboro and Springfield, Vt., as well as in Keene, the site reported.
Emergency responders treated victims on the highway and two helicopters, one from Dartmouth and one from Albany, also were sent to the area, the Reformer reported.
Joe Schoppy, owner of Tour World in Danville, Pa., told the Vermont newspaper that there were three buses on their way from the UMass campus on a ski trip to Quebec City in Canada.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Analysis and Information website, this is the fourth crash of a Tour World bus this year.
Students are members of the college
The newspaper described the scene as chaotic with teenagers, rescue workers and police around the bus.
The bus rolled over and slid down an embankment while traveling northbound, according to the news report, which went on to state there is no information as to how the bus crossed the highway, but one report has stated the driver may have had a heart attack.
Vermont State Police and Westminster Fire and Rescue were dispatched to the crash and upon arrival assessed the incident and injuries. Putney Fire and Rescue were later dispatched to the scene.
Exit 5 on I-91 southbound is limited to one lane of travel and motorists are advised to use caution in the area, according to police.
Responders are still at the scene and another news update will be issued at 6:30 p.m., according to Dasaro.
This is a developing story; MassLive.com will have updates as they become available.