RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — A car that collided with a Greyhound bus on an Indiana highway, killing the car’s driver and injuring 19 people on the bus, had just been stolen and was headed in the wrong direction, authorities said.
Phillip Lloyd, the driver of the stolen 1999 Ford Mustang, died at the scene of the Sunday morning collision on Interstate 70 near Richmond, Wayne County Sheriff Jeff Cappa said. Lloyd was from Richmond, which is about 70 miles east of Indianapolis and near the Ohio border.
“It had been reported stolen from the Love’s truck stop … just prior to the crash,” said Cappa, adding that it was unclear how Lloyd ended up going westbound in the eastbound lane. He declined to give Lloyd’s age.
The bus, which was carrying the driver and 23 passengers when it was struck, was headed from St. Louis to New York City. It also was scheduled to stop in Dayton, Ohio, about 35 miles east of the crash site.
Brandi Schroeder, who drove past the accident scene while returning home to Indianapolis from Ohio, said the bus ended up off the shoulder of the highway’s eastbound lane and that the other vehicle lay crushed in the inbound lane. She said that vehicle was so flattened that she couldn’t tell if it was a car or truck or even make out its wheels.
“I’ve seen a lot of accidents, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Schroeder told The Associated Press.
Most of the injured were taken to Reid Memorial Hospital in Richmond for treatment. Most had only scrapes, cuts and bruises and were soon discharged, said hospital spokesman Larry Price.
“I would describe them as walking and wounded,” Price said. “At last check it didn’t appear that we were going to have to admit someone.”
Greyhound spokeswoman Alexandria Pedrini said the driver was airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, but she said she couldn’t release any information about the driver, including the nature of the driver’s injuries.
Two new buses were dispatched to Richmond for the passengers, she said.
