Chaos erupted aboard a charter bus after it swerved and crashed on its side on the Boulder Turnpike this morning, although none of the passengers’ injuries were believed to be life-threatening.
“Kids were screaming and crying and parents were trying to hold onto their kids,” said Scott Donaldson, 23, of Kissimee Florida, a passenger on board the Coach USA bus bound from Denver to Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Passengers smelled gas, he said, and wanted out of the bus fast, fearing it could explode.
“It was just pure chaos and panic,” Donaldson said.
The bus tipped over onto the driver’s side, closing U.S. 36 westbound near 80th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. Traffic was being diverted off the highway at Federal Boulevard until the highway was reopened at about noon.
The bus had at least 27 people on board counting the driver, according to Westminster police spokesperson Tim Read. He didn’t know of any critical injuries but said passengers were triaged and placed in neck braces and on backboards, in some cases, as a precaution. He said ten ambulances took 14 passengers to four different hospitals.
“There were people who were walking dazed,” Read said.
Emergency workers tried to help the passengers who appeared to be in shock get oriented and calm down, he said.
The accident happened at 8:54 a.m. Passengers on the bus say the driver swerved to avoid a UPS truck that stopped abruptly in front of the bus.
“It was not the (bus) driver’s fault at all,” said Donaldson, who had a scraped chin.
The UPS truck, a box truck and a car also crashed, Read said. The driver of the UPS truck was taken to a hospital but Read did not know his condition.
Bus passenger Johnathon Adams, 23, of Dallas, said after the crash children were carried quickly off the bus without shoes or socks. Adams was not injured.
“Kids without jackets were crying,” Adams said.
Read said although it was considered a weather-related accident there was no snow or ice on the highway. Oil on the highway may have made it slick, he said.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, he said. Detectives were interviewing drivers of all the vehicles and passengers, he said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
