A packed double-decker Megabus slammed into an Illinois interstate bridge support pillar Thursday, hurtling screaming passengers from their seats and leaving at least one person dead and more than three dozen injured, CBS News reported.


Aditi R. Avhad, 24, a native of India, was killed in the crash, Illinois State Police Trooper Brad Lemarr said late Thursday. Lemarr said she was headed to Columbia, Mo., but he didn't know where she was currently living or from where she was traveling. Authorities also did not know where she was seated on the bus, which was traveling between Chicago and Kansas City.


Trooper Doug Francis said 38 people were taken to hospitals for injuries from the crash, which left the bus sitting with its crumpled front end smashed up against the bridge support. Rescue crews climbed ladders to reach those trapped inside, while others tended to injuries along the side of Interstate 55.


"There was a lot of screaming and crying," said 16-year-old passenger Baysha Collins, of Minneapolis, who was traveling to St. Louis to visit relatives. "There was blood everywhere. I was just in shock."


A passenger, Zaq Hall, said to WBBM Newsradio that it was "a really huge collision, and when I kind of came to my senses, I looked around and it was horrible. There were people in the aisles, laying there. Most people had some sort of blood on their face. It was pretty intense."

Megabus spokeswoman Amanda Byers said the bus was at full capacity, carrying 81 passengers, when it crashed near Litchfield, about 55 miles northeast of St. Louis. It left from Chicago and was to stop in St. Louis and Columbia, Mo., before arriving in Kansas City.