More than a dozen people were injured, three seriously, after a truck crashed into a school bus carrying a Chicago high school hockey team Saturday night in northern Indiana.
Authorities say the accident happened just after 8 pm as Chicago's Saint Ignatius College Prep junior varsity hockey team was traveling back to their hotel after a game in Warsaw.
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Then, upon impact, the bus flipped onto its side, ejecting at least one student, according to police.
In addition to the driver, 23 students and two coaches were on the bus at the time of the collision.
At least 16 people were taken to area hospitals
.
Three people were described
as having "very critical" injuries
after the crash, local NBC News in Chicago reported.
The school bus overturned after the accident.
Warsaw, Indiana Police
Police say that just two minutes before the collision, traffic controllers had been notified of
a truck that was swerving between lanes
, driving at excessive speeds and leaving the road as it entered the road to Warsaw.
After hitting the bus, the truck drove a short distance down the highway before coming to rest in a nearby ditch.
When police approached the driver, they reportedly smelled a strong odor of alcohol in the cab of the truck and the driver was having difficulty speaking, authorities told NBC News Chicago.
The driver refused to take a breathalyzer test and police obtained a search warrant for blood samples at a local hospital.
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The driver, identified as
a 58-year-old New York resident
who was driving for a business outside of New Jersey, is in custody as prosecutors prepare to file charges including operating while intoxicated and causing serious bodily injury.
Additional charges are expected.
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The Chicago Blackhawks released a statement after the accident, expressing their condolences.
“We send our thoughts and prayers to the Saint Ignatius College Prep hockey team, their coaches and their families after the team was in a serious bus accident last night.
Please join us in keeping them in your thoughts,” the team said.