MADISON COUNTY, Ill. — The Madison County Coroner's Office shared the names of the three people killed on Wednesday morning in a Greyhound passenger bus crash on Interstate 70 in Highland, Illinois. More than a dozen others on board at the time of the crash also sustained serious injuries.
The bus was on its way from Indianapolis to St. Louis when it struck three commercial vehicles parked on the westbound I-70 exit ramp to the Silver Lake Rest Stop.
Three men from New Jersey, Arizona and Illinois were all pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to the release from the county coroner.
The victims
An autopsy revealed 34-year-old Juan E. Vasquez-Rodriguez of Passaic, New Jersey, died after sustaining craniocerebral, thoracic and abdominal blunt force trauma in the crash.
Buford Paya, 71, of Supai, Arizona, died after sustaining head and thoracoabdominal blunt trauma.
Lastly, the coroner's office said 47-year-old Bradley D. Donovan of Springfield, Illinois, died after sustaining thoracoabdominal blunt trauma.
According to the coroner's office, the final cause of death for the three men will be released upon completion of routine toxicological testing for drugs and alcohol.
The investigation of the crash
As of Thursday morning, the crash remained under investigation by Illinois State Police and the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB provided an update on the crash investigation during a Thursday briefing. It requested anyone who witnessed the crash to contact them via email at witness@ntsb.gov or by calling 866-328-6347.
"Our mission is to understand not just what happened but how it happened, and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again," NTSB board member Tom Chapman said during the briefing. "We will not be determining the probable cause of the crash while we are on scene, nor will we speculate about the cause. These are the first steps in a lengthy investigative process."
Chapman said the bus was equipped with inward- and outward-facing cameras, and the NTSB was working to recover recordings as part of its investigation.
Chapman reiterated that the NTSB's investigations are "very, very thorough," adding that while some may be frustrated by the amount of time they take, it's necessary in order to ensure accuracy.
"We want to do it right, not fast," Chapman said.
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