Aspen Bus Accident, as paged

[jimmnn]

12:50 p.m. — The driver who spent about an hour trapped in a crashed RFTA bus may be the mostly seriously hurt of the individuals who were on the bus.

There were five to seven passengers in the vehicle, according to Dan Blankenship, executive director of the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority. Of them, apparently only a couple of people requested medical transport, he said. RFTA personnel on the scene did not believe any of the passengers suffered life-threatening injuries, he said.

The extent of driver Stephanie Varley's injuries is not yet known. The total number of injured parties among the various motorists involved in the accident is also not yet known.

A spokesperson at Aspen Valley Hospital said four victims in all have been taken there for evaluation so far. None have been transported to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, a spokesperson there said.

Blankenship was relieved to hear rescuers had extricated the driver from the bus and that none of the passengers appeared to be seriously injured.

“I’m just hoping and praying right now that she (Varley) is going to be OK,” he said. "She was in there for quite some time."

While cleanup at the accident scene continues, falling snow and slick conditions have resulted in multiple accidents on the highway.

12:25 p.m. — Rescue personnel have freed a bus driver who had been trapped in the vehicle after a seven-vehicle pileup on Highway 82 this morning.

Rescuers were forced to pry the driver out of the front of the bus, freeing her at 12:14 p.m. The extent of her injuries is unknown. A number of passengers on the Glenwood Springs-bound bus were also hurt and have been transported to a local hospital, according to Aspen Times reporter Joel Stonington, who is on the scene.

The accident apparently occurrred when both a Windriver Trees dump truck and a Coca-Cola delivery truck pulled out to pass an Acura Integra traveling in the right-hand lane. The two trucks collided; a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority bus and the Coke truck then collided. The impact blew out the bus windshield and ripped the door off, Stonington said. In all, seven vehicles wound up colliding.

The Coke truck is now jackknifed and blocking both lanes of the highway; the bus is also blocking the highway and both vehicles are inoperable.

Local authorities are on the scene; Colorado State Patrol troopers have yet to reach the accident, which occurred near Gerbaz Way, below the turnoff to the Pitkin County Landfill.

12:06 p.m. — Authorities are estimating the downvalley lanes of Highway 82 will be closed for three hours to clear up an accident involving a Roaring Fork Transit Agency bus and the resulting traffic jam.

Motorists are being diverted onto River Road, but it is reportedly slick, as well. Semi-trucks are not being allowed onto narrow, twisting River Road and are lining up at the detour point; drivers of the big rigs are being told they'll have a three-hour wait.

Police are advising motorists not to travel downvalley if they don't have to.

The bus accident scene on Highway 82 is near Gerbaz Way. Officers are also clearing up a multicar accident at Brush Creek Road.

Further details will be posted as they become available.

11:32 a.m. — The westbound lanes of Highway 82 have been closed at Gerbaz Way, where a Roaring Fork Transportation Authority bus has apparently been involved in an accident involving several vehicles.

There are reportedly injuries; police are attempting to clear traffic that has backed up at the scene.

Snow has begun falling in the upper Roaring Fork Valley, creating slick conditions.

Details on the accident will be posted as they become available.