School Bus Carrying 40+ Cruise Guests Hits Suv In Alaska, Three Taken To Hospital

How cruise tourism could help and hurt Alaska's environment

Although Alaskans rely on revenue tourism cruise ships bring in, some locals are raising concerns on the impact of tourism on Alaska's environment.

• A school bus and SUV collided in Ketchikan, Alaska, injuring three people.
• The bus was carrying 46 cruise ship passengers at the time of the accident.

A school bus carrying more than 40 cruise passengers collided with an SUV in Alaska on Thursday.

The bus was heading south on Ketchikan’s N Tongass Highway when, around 9 a.m., the vehicles struck each other, the city said in a news release. The SUV then hit a power pole. The Ketchikan Fire Department responded to the incident with assistance from the North Tongass and South Tongass Fire Departments.

“The school bus was carrying 46 cruise passengers and a single driver when the accident occurred,” the City of Ketchikan said. “The passengers and drivers were examined by EMTs and paramedics from the responding fire departments.”

Forty-four of the cruise guests were medically cleared and returned by bus to their ship at Ward Cove, while two others were taken by ambulance to PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center, along with the SUV driver. Two of those people were released following treatment, while the other was "transferred to a higher level of care."

The city did not specify which patients were released or which ship the cruise guests were sailing on. “KPU Electric linemen examined the power pole and determined it to be undamaged from the accident,” the release said.

The Ketchikan Police Department is investigating the crash.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.