A suspected drunk driver ran a red light in a tractor trailer and struck a school bus that was carrying a high school hockey team on Saturday night in northern Indiana, leaving 16 people injured, according to police.
Three of the injured were in critical condition on Saturday, but everyone was upgraded to stable by Sunday morning.
Victor Santos, a 58-year-old man from Brooklyn, New York, was arrested at the scene and failed field sobriety tests. A “strong odor” of alcohol was allegedly coming from the cab of his truck and he had slurred speech.
Police referred charges to the Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury.
Police were originally alerted to a tractor trailer “swerving into other lanes and driving at excessive speed” around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night.
As officers responded, they were advised that the truck had just struck a school bus from the rear and flipped it on its side.
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At least one of the juveniles was ejected from bus, which was carrying 23 students, two adult coaches, and the bus driver.
First responders converged on the scene and started providing emergency medical care and transporting the injured to local hospitals. Three of the students required surgery, but all were in stable condition on Sunday.
The team, from St. Ignatius College Prep out of Chicago, Illinois, was in town for a hockey tournament in Culver and had just eaten dinner before returning to their hotel.
“The Saint Ignatius Wolfpack Hockey Club says ‘we will get through this together,'” school officials said in a message on Sunday. “Our thoughts, prayers, and heartfelt concern are with them.”
