Four Coast Guard Cadets Injured in Bus Crash on AC Expressway

Four cadets from the Cape May Training Center were injured in a bus crash on the Rt. 42 split for the Atlantic City Expressway Tuesday night.

The bus carrying 13 cadets from the Training Center ripped off over 200 feet feet of guardrail during a crash.

9 AM UPDATE: Coast Guard spokesman Timothy Tamargo regarding the bus crash on the AC Expressway. There were 13 recruits on the bus who had been picked up at the USO at Philadelphia International Airport and were on their way to the USCG Training Center Cape May.  4 were hospitalized for minor injuries. The only other person on the bus was the driver.

11:12 AM UPDATE: At approximately 9:06 p.m, troopers responded to a motor vehicle crash involving a bus on the Atlantic City Expressway, eastbound milepost 43.9, Based on a preliminary investigation on scene a motor coach bus attempted to avoid another vehicle and lost directional control.

The bus ran off the roadway to the left striking the guardrail and then struck the bridge railing. The bus was carrying 15 passengers. Three passengers were transported to an area hospital for further evaluation. Eastbound lanes were shut down for several hours.

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According to news reports on Philadelphia TV stations, the Shoreline bus crashed into a guardrail in the southbound lanes of the expressway in Gloucester Township.

The crash happened around 9 p.m. on the eastbound lanes of the Expressway near the split to the Black Horse Pike in Washington Township, Gloucester County.

CBS 3 reports that the bus plowed through more than 200 feet of guardrail there as the bus crossed the roadway. No other vehicles were involved.

6ABC reports that the bus was carrying 15 recruits en route to Coast Guard Training Center Cape May when the bus hit the guardrail. Four people suffered minor injuries.

Officials with the Training Center said the remaining recruits headed to the base after the crash.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. All southbound lanes on the AC Expressway were  closed for a time and traffic was diverted at the Rt. 42 exit.

Training Center Cape May is the 5^th largest base in the Coast Guard. The United States Coast Guard Training Center Cape May is the Nation's only Coast Guard Recruit Training Center. The Coast Guard considers the training center the birthplace of the enlisted corps and Cape May County, the Coast Guard’s hometown.

Sources: CBS 3/6ABC