An I-40 crash in Tennessee has left at least eight people dead and at least a dozen injured after a church bus, an SUV and a tractor-trailer collided on the interstate, the Commercial Appeal reported Oct. 2.
The I-40 crash occurred on Wednesday when the left front tire of the church bus blew out as it was heading east on I-40, authorities said. The bus, which was carrying 18 people after a trip to Gatlinburg, veered across the interstate, crossed the median, clipped the SUV and then struck the tractor-trailer before overturning. The tractor-trailer caught fire on impact and landed in a ditch, authorities said.
Among the dead in the I-40 crash were at least six people on the church bus, the driver of the tractor-trailer and one person in the SUV, a Chevy Tahoe that had been carrying three people.
All lanes of I-40 were closed Wednesday afternoon, according to WATE-ABC. Debris from the crash was littered across the interstate. The I-40 crash occurred at mile marker 423 east of the Interstate 81 split.
WATE and CNN reported that fourteen people were injured in the fiery I-40 crash, including four who were flown to area hospitals.
The church bus was returning to Front Street Baptist Church in Statesville, N.C., after a fall tourist visit to Gatlinburg when it crashed around 2 p.m.
