photo from the atlanta journal constitution

six people from bluffton university in ohio were killed early this morning when their bus fell off an overpass onto interstate 75. authorities have said the bus was in the hov lane and the driver, who was unfamiliar with the atlanta area, exited the interstate at a “high speed” and did not stop at an intersection. crash survivors told authorities the driver tried to make the turn onto northside drive without slowing down, crossed six lanes of traffic and crashed through a retaining wall and fencing, falling onto the interstate.

the bus driver, his wife and four students were killed. the other 29 passengers were injured and transported to three atlanta hospitals. most of the injured where taken to grady memorial hospital. joe’s sister is a paramedic at grady, and her ambulance was the first on the scene. she told joe it was worse than a horror movie. 

the interstate was shut down for five hours, creating gridlock on secondary roads during the morning commute. joe was stuck in traffic from the crash for about an hour and a half. at one point it took him more than half an hour to go one mile.

this crash happened not too long after on off-duty police officer was killed after driving the wrong way on the interstate and hitting an ambulance head-on.

what a day we’ve had here in the atlanta area.