MILWAUKEE — Two people died and at least six others were injured after the van they were in rolled over and caught fire on the freeway in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said the crash happened around 5:20 a.m. on eastbound I-43 just east of 27th Street.
At the scene, deputies found the bus on its side, fully engulfed in flames. Several Good Samaritans helped six people escape from the burning vehicle, and eight deputies soon joined in to help. EMS eventually arrived and brought the injured to the hospital, where they are in stable condition, the sheriff's office said.
The Good Samaritans and other witnesses told deputies that people did remain inside the burning van. Greenfield firefighters confirmed this once the fire was extinguished, reporting the bodies of two people were found inside.
The deceased are a 22-year-old Texas woman and a 57-year-old Mississippi woman.
The sheriff's office says the van was a private rental being operated by "or on behalf of" a Minnesota company to shuttle employees to Racine County for a business project.
The crash closed lanes for hours until crews reopened lanes Wednesday afternoon.
CNH Industrial issued the following statement, saying their workers were heading to their plant in Racine when the crash occurred.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that early this morning a van transporting contract workers to our Racine factory was involved in an accident. The driver and one of the contract workers passed away and several others were injured. Our heartfelt condolences, thoughts and prayers go to the families of the victims, those workers who were injured and those who were involved in the accident," according to CNH Industrial.
The President of Strom Engineering, Jim Corrigan, tells TMJ4 News that it’s their understanding one of their vans was involved in a crash. They’re waiting for more information from the police.
Jim Herek told TMJ4 News that the van passed him, veered off of the road, hit a median, and flipped. Herek said he and several others rushed to help.
"Our first thoughts were get everybody out. We didn't know how many people were in the vehicle. Everybody that was being pulled out was injured," Herek said.
Herek said they managed to get a lot of people out who were injured.
"You don't think about anything except whatever you can do to help people in that situation because it was horrible. So some people stopped traffic, other people went to the van to see if they could help anybody as people were crawling out the back. It was terrible," Herek recalled.
On Wednesday night, co-workers of the women killed and the others injured came together for a candle light vigil.
Those at the vigil said hundreds of Strom employees were headed down to the worksite in Racine when the crash happened, all traveling in several vans.
Kantriel Higginbottom, a Strom employee, said her van was halfway to work when she got the phone call.
"Everybody was just devastated, hurt, mourning," she said about the moment they found out about the crash.
Jamal Roberts is another Strom employee and was driving a van behind the one that crashed.
"I was driving down the highway, taking my crew in, and I looked over to the side and I saw the van on its side and I instantly pulled over and jumped out. And me and my crew, we started pulling people out until the fire got too bad," he recalled.
Picture from earlier but Mitchell Interchange ramp to downtown will remain closed for a serious crash. Greenfield Fire Rescue, @MilFireDept @West_Allis_Fire assisted. @MilwCoSheriff investigating. No matter this cause, roadways are increasingly dangerous. #slowdown #buckleup pic.twitter.com/lYB4Cfp2r7
— Greenfield Fire (@greenfieldfire) October 12, 2022
