In this photo from video provided by KSDK-TV NewsCenter5 in St. Louis, first responders work the scene of a charter bus crash on Interstate 55 near Litchfield, Ill. Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. The double-decker Megabus carrying 81 passengers blew a tire and slammed head-on into a concrete bridge support pillar. Four people injured in the crash were flown by helicopter to a trauma center, others were treated at local hospitals. (AP Photo/Courtesy KSDK-TV NewsCenter5 in St. Louis)

Authorities: Blown tire likely caused bus crash

By JIM SALTER

| The Associated Press

First Published Aug 03 2012 01:00 pm • Last Updated Aug 03 2012 01:02 pm

Litchfield, Ill. • Authorities say a blown tire appears to have caused the crash of a double-decker bus on a southern Illinois highway in which one passenger was killed and dozens were injured.

State Police Lt. Louis Kink said Friday that the investigation into Thursday’s crash near Litchfield could take weeks, but that there doesn’t appear to have been driver error.

The packed Megabus veered into a highway overpass support pillar about 55 miles northeast of St. Louis. A University of Missouri graduate student who was sitting above the driver was killed.

Kink says 47 people were taken to hospitals. He didn’t know how many were critically injured but said none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening.

The bus was headed from Chicago to Kansas City, Mo.

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