Six dead in Ohio bus crash with John Mosley, Jeffrey Worrell & Katelyn Owens named as victims after wreck near Columbus

SIX people have died, including three students, after a semi truck slammed into a charter bus on an Ohio highway on Tuesday.

Three students on the bus and three adults in a separate vehicle were killed after the initial wreck caused a chain-reaction crash.

The crash shut down traffic on Interstate 70 near Route 310 in Licking County, about 40 miles from Columbus.

The bus was carrying 54 people, including students, from an eastern Ohio school when it was rear-ended by the big rig.

A total of five vehicles were involved in the wreck at around 9 am, cops said. At least three of the vehicles caught fire.

Students John W. Mosley, 18, Jeffrey D. Worrell, 18, and Katelyn Owens, 15, all from Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools, died at the crash site.

Three people who were all riding in the same car, Dave Kennat, 56, Kristy Gaynor, 39, and Shannon Wright, 45, were also killed.

Fifteen students were rushed to the hospital after the crash and at least two others suffered injuries, according to law enforcement.

The bus, operated by Pioneer Trails, was taking Tuscarawas Valley High School band members to Columbus for a performance at the Ohio School Boards Association's annual convention this week.

Parents and teachers were among those on the bus at the time of the crash.

Some of the injured were taken to Grant, Mount Carmel East, and Nationwide Children's hospitals in Columbus.

Chris McNeal, a trucker, called the wreck "catastrophic" while speaking with local ABC affiliate .

"They had a ladder up in one window. It looked like they were in the rear of the bus trying to pull a couple people off," he said.

"One tractor-trailer is completely burned through; there's a car that's completely destroyed and burned through."

Superintendent Derek Varansky said in a Facebook post that the school's focus "is on getting in touch with our Tusky Valley families who had loved ones on the bus and providing support to our entire school community."

Varansky later spoke to grieving locals in a prayer vigil held to honor the victims of the tragedy in Zoarville, Ohio, on Tuesday night.

Members of the community could be seen embracing in the crowd while tributes were left in support of the Tusky Valley Schools community.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Fran and I are praying for everyone involved in the bus crash east of Columbus today. It is our worst nightmare to have a bus full of children involved in such a terrible crash, and it is certainly the worst nightmare that families and schools can endure," he wrote.

"I am with [Ohio State Highway Patrol] now, and we will provide updates when they are available."

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was working with highway patrol and sending a team to investigate the crash.

"NTSB Chair Homendy and a team of investigators are expected to arrive in Ohio this evening," the agency wrote.

Tuscarawas is located about 75 miles south of Cleveland.

The crash comes less than two months after two people were killed in another crash involving a charter bus.

A bus was taking Farmingdale High School students to band camp when it plunged 50 feet off the highway in New York.

Gina Pellettiere, 43, and Beatrice Ferrari, 77, died in the wreck on Interstate 84 in Wawayanda, New York, just about 30 minutes from its destination.

An issue with a front tire may have caused the crash, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said at the time.

Law enforcement has yet to reveal what may have led the semi truck to crash into the bus on Tuesday in Ohio.