At least one person is dead and 38 are injured in a double-decker bus crash along I-55 near Litchfield. A 25-year-old female passenger who died in the crash was a native of India traveling to central Missouri. Aditi Avhad was headed to Columbia, Mo. She was a graduate student at University of Missouri.
Firefighters on ladders were seen pulling victims out of the top level of the bus shortly after the crash. Of the 38 people taken to area hospitals for treatment, five were airlifted. Memorial Medical Center received six patients, with four of them being air lifted.
Megabus says the charter was booked to a full capacity of 81 people, though only 64 were reportedly on board. It crashed this afternoon along I-55 southbound near Litchfield. A passenger said the driver lost control of the bus after a blown tire and slammed into a concrete pillar supporting a bridge.
(Updated 6:21am. 08/03/2012, Michelle Eccles, Alex Degman and Michael Calhoun)