In 2011, a bus slammed into an Illinois highway overhead support, sending the bridge above crashing down. The accident killed a graduate student and injured other passengers. The tragic accident has been left alone until now, when investigators were finally prompted to figure out what went wrong. The bus was a double-decker full of passengers, and had passed a preventative maintenance check only days before. A Megabus spokeswoman says that there was no reason to think that the large vehicle would malfunction in any way.

Police officials decided to look into passenger reports that alleged that the bus blew a tire right before the crash. The troopers said that they wanted the cause of the crash to be finalized by the end of the week so that the men and women who were affected can choose the right methods to sue for compensation from the accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that it is monitoring the investigation to figure out whether or not they need to confront Megabus because of a lapse in safety.

According to the findings so far, the bus was travelling from Chicago to Columbia and then on to Kansas City. 81 passengers were on for the ride, which put the bus at its full capacity. Nearly half of the bus’ occupants were affected by the crash and were taken to the hospital with injuries ranging from minor to critical. Five people were transported to medical facilities by helicopter, and the bus driver was rushed into surgery. A University of Missouri student was killed as a result of the accident. The Indian passenger was a health student at the University of Missouri in Columbia and was taken the bus back to this location.

One passenger told investigators that she was on the top deck of the bus when the accident occurred and was flung to the lower level through the stairwell. She said that she could hear the moaning of passengers near the front of the bus, and emergency teams had to use ladders to climb through the mangled mass of metal and get to the suffering passengers inside. Other witnesses say that there was a lot of screaming and crying and blood spilling all throughout the bus. Preceding the accident some passengers say that they heard a big boom and then it seemed as if the bus was going to tip over. Most people assume that this was a blow out tire.

Those who weren’t injured called family and friends in order to get rides to the locations that they needed to be at, but all were shocked by the tragic incident. Some people on the bus even claim that they felt the bus ride over a large obstacle which may have caused the tire to pop and sent the bus careening towards the bridge. Some passengers were impressed by the will to help that was displayed by all on board. One man says that he was sleeping and awoke when the disaster occurred. He saw a small child fly past him and ran to pick her up and make sure that she was okay.

Megabus offers rides for a low-fare which may mean that the company doesn’t have as much money to make sure that the buses are performing carefully. The NHTSA is hoping that this tragic incident will motivate the bus company to provide better regulation of their safety. Megabus claims that they have the highest-possible overall safety rating from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and have served 19 million passengers on their buses. If you have been harmed in a bus accident, then you have a right to seek damages from the company and the driver involved in your accident. Talk to a car accident attorney today to work towards forming a viable claim.