A tragic bus crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike killed two people and hurt several others Saturday morning.
The bus was carrying the Seton Hill University women’s lacrosse team to Millersville for a game when it crashed near eastbound mile marker 227 in Cumberland County.
“It struck a guardrail, went off the roadway, traveled through a patch of grass approximately 70 yards or so before impacting a tree,” said Trooper Robert Hicks of the Pennsylvania State Police.
Officials said the bus was carrying 23 players and coaches when it went off the road around 9:00 a.m.
The crash killed both the driver, 61-year-old Anthony M. Guaetta of Johnstown, and head coach Kristina J. Quigley of Greensburg. Officials said Quigley was six months pregnant and her unborn child did not survive.
“It was about a 40 minute window from the time first responders arrived on the scene til the last patient was transported. That’s a pretty exceptional time, so they worked very hard to get all of those folks out of there and to hospitals as quickly as possible,” said Megan Silverstram, PIO for Cumberland County.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Environmental officials were also called to the scene due to a large amount of diesel fuel spilled from the bus.
Assistant Dean of Students for Seton Hill Jaimie Steel released a statement about the incident that reads in part:
“The Seton Hill University community is deeply saddened by the tragic bus accident that occurred today. Our women’s lacrosse team was traveling to a NCAA-II match in Millersville University, in Millersville, Pa. We are mourning the loss of our head women’s lacrosse coach, Kristina Quigley, and her unborn son. The University extends deepest sympathy to Kristina Quigley’s husband and family. Seton Hill University will offer a memorial Mass for Kristina Quigley and her family and pray for the driver of the bus, who also died as a result of the crash, and for all those injured, on Sunday, March 17, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in Saint Joseph Chapel on the University’s campus.”
