COOLBAUGH TOWNSHIP -- Emergency crews responded to a deadly wreck between a charter bus and tractor trailer in Monroe County.
It happened after 10 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 380 northbound between the Mount Pocono exit (3) and the Tobyhanna exit (8).
According to state police, the tractor trailer crossed the median and hit a tour bus head-on.
Three people on the bus, including the driver, were killed, and 13 others were injured.
They were traveling from New York City to Niagara Falls with an Italian tour company.
Traffic on Interstate 380 was stopped in both directions. The southbound lanes reopened after noon. Troopers hoped to reopen the northbound side of the highway by 5 p.m.
After first responders showed up passengers were taken away one by one by helicopter to four different hospitals.
The three who were killed were still trapped inside the bus.
"They all, to the best of my knowledge, were males. Two are still trapped on the bus. They have state police reconstructionists stationed out of Hazleton going to do a full reconstruction. We have to do that, and there are charges pending," said Monroe County coroner Bob Allen.
Alex Filarsky's car was the last piece in a separate chain reaction crash when another driver slowed down to take a picture of the gruesome scene on the other side of the highway. Filarsky didn't spend much time worrying about his own predicament.
"Me and the guy that I hit, we were talking, we walked over to the bus and I mean it was just havoc. There were people covered in blood and just mayhem everywhere, just a mess," said Alex Filarsky of Scott Township.
We heard a lot of people use the words, chaos, mayhem, messy to describe what they saw on Interstate 380 near Mount Pocono.
"I walked right up to help right away because there were people saying, 'help me help me, get me out of here, get me out of here.' But me and another guy helped a few of the people down. One lady specifically I remember, just gushing blood, you know, from her head and stuff. And we just helped her get out, that was it, you know," recalled Pat Jacino of Easton.
Witnesses we talked to say the driver of the tractor trailer was up and walking around after the wreck the cab broke off and ended up about 50 yards away on its side down an embankment.
The tractor trailer driver was identified as Franklin Wyatt of Oklahoma and he is being treated at Geisinger-CMC in Scranton for minor injuries.
Jacino saw him walking around after the crash and fears the driver may have fallen asleep.
"I'm human, I get tired. If I get tired, I'll pull over if I get tired. I got a family, four kids, God forbid if I were to hurt somebody," Jacino said.
