Bus carrying bagpipers from St. Patrick's Day parade crashes into truck in Pennsylvania

Jefferson Township first responders look over the scene of a school bus crash at the Mount Cobb, Pa. exit of Interstate 84, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Chad Sebring/The Times-Tribune via AP)

MOUNT COBB, Pa. — Bagpipers returning from a St. Patrick’s Day parade were taken to hospitals after their charter bus crashed into a tractor-trailer, officials said.

The bus was exiting westbound Interstate 84 in northeastern Pennsylvania shortly before 6:30 p.m. Sunday when it ran into the tractor-trailer, which had no one inside it, Jefferson Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mike Shaffer said, according to WBRE-TV/WYOU-TV.

Seventeen people on the bus had minor injuries, according to Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson Trooper First Class Robert Urban. The crash was not weather related and is under investigation, he said.

The bus was carrying the Greater Scranton Black Diamonds Pipe Band back from a parade in Milford, according to Bill Hetherson, the band’s business manager. The band expects everyone to make a full recovery. They cancelled group St. Patrick’s Day events on Monday but some might be able to play solo, Hetherson said.