Nine people treated in Fowler crash involving transport bus

Staff report

FOWLER

Nine people were transported to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital after a head-on crash involving a 10-passenger Siffrin transport bus containing five passengers on state Route 305 just west of state Route 193 Tuesday morning.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol, which is investigating the 8:30 a.m. crash involving three vehicles, did not have any information to release later Tuesday.

First-responders on the scene said they could not initially enter the bus when they arrived because the doors were jammed shut.

A mechanical device was used to get into the bus. The driver also was trapped in her seat but eventually wiggled free.

That employee, another employee and all five passengers were taken to the hospital, though all five passengers appeared to suffer only scrapes and bruises, said Todd Metzendorf, head of the Fowler Township EMS. One or two of the passengers were in wheelchairs, and the rest were buckled in their seats.

Metzendorf said the passengers were shook up. He said he didn’t know where they were headed, but they were disabled.

A person who answered the phone at the Mahoning County Siffrin office said she could not comment on the crash. According to its website, Siffrin offers nonmedical transportation services to people with disabilities.

Services are also available to other groups and organizations, such as nursing homes and schools, to allow people to be active in their community.

The most seriously injured driver appeared to be a man driving a Cadillac Escalade that collided head-on with the bus.

The driver of a third car that struck the rear of the bus also went to the hospital.

The crash closed Route 305 for about 21/2 hours, until all three vehicles were removed from the roadway and the debris and fluids were cleaned up.

In addition to the Fowler Township Fire Deparment and EMS, the fire departments in Cortland, Johnston, Vienna, Bazetta and Howland assisted with the crash.