Officials say several hurt when tour bus flips on side in highway median near Indianapolis

A double-decker passenger bus flipped onto its side early Tuesday on a highway near Indianapolis after apparently swerving to avoid a minor crash, badly injuring one person and hurting more than a dozen others, officials said.

The bus carrying between 50 and 60 people crashed about 4:30 a.m. on Interstate 65 when its driver apparently tried to avoid the accident that had occurred about 10 minutes earlier, state police Sgt. Shawn O'Keefe said.

"The driver apparently didn't see it because of the rain or something and swerved to avoid it," O'Keefe said. "The bus driver swerved and ended up turning the bus over on its side, and it went into the median."

The roadway was wet from overnight storms and some light rain continued in central Indiana about the time of the crash.

Greenwood Fire Department Battalion Chief Chris Harrell told reporters at the scene that one person was taken to a hospital in critical condition, while four people had moderate injuries and 14 had minor injuries.

The bus operated by the Megabus line was traveling from Atlanta to Chicago, said Sean Hughes, a spokesman for the line's parent company, Coach USA North America. Hughes said the company was assisting authorities with the crash investigation and working to help the passengers involved.

Harrell said about 35 uninjured passengers were being taken by a city bus to a nearby hospital as a precaution and to regroup.

The northbound bus became entangled in the median's cable barrier in the southern Indianapolis suburb of Greenwood. Both northbound and southbound lanes were closed for a time while crews removed the injured people and worked to clear the wreckage.