2 Dead, 31 Hurt In Bus Crash On Interstate 80 In Central Pa.

CLEARFIELD, Pa. (AP) _ A bus veered off a highway and crashed in central Pennsylvania early Sunday, killing two people and injuring 31 others, authorities said. <br/><br/>The bus was traveling eastbound

Sunday, May 20th 2007, 2:34 pm

By: News On 6

CLEARFIELD, Pa. (AP) _ A bus veered off a highway and crashed in central Pennsylvania early Sunday, killing two people and injuring 31 others, authorities said.

The bus was traveling eastbound on Interstate 80 with 35 people on board when it crashed six miles west of Clearfield at about 3:30 a.m., state police said.

``It appears that the bus, and we don't know why, did leave the roadway, and came back on, and the bus did eventually wind up on its side,'' state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marla Fannin said.

Fannin said two people died and the others had various injuries.

Thirty-one people, ranging in age from a toddler to a 50-year-old, were taken to Clearfield Hospital, nurse manager Monica Smith said. Doctors treated lung and abdominal injuries, along with various abrasions and lacerations, she said.

Seven people were transferred to a hospital in Altoona, where one was listed in serious condition and six were in guarded condition, nursing supervisor Ann Langenbacher said.

Investigators were having difficulty piecing together what happened because most of the passengers were Asian and did not speak English, state Trooper Terry Jordan said. Interpreters were sent to the hospital as authorities worked to identify the victims.

The bus came to rest on its side on the highway median, Fannin said. Its windshield was blown out and its front bumper was torn off.

Yuk Sau Wong of OK Travel Bus Inc. said the bus, one of two or three the company owns, left Youngstown, Ohio, after midnight and was headed for New York City. She said the bus line mainly serves Chinese customers but also carries other passengers.

She had previously said the bus had been contracted out to another company, but later said she was mistaken.

A nine-mile stretch of the eastbound portion of the highway in Clearfield County was closed for most of Sunday morning, but was reopened after the bus was towed away just before 11 a.m.

Clearfield is about 120 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.