CHICAGO _ A man and three women died early Sunday when the driver of a fast-moving car lost control and ran head-on into a Chicago Transit Authority bus on the Near West Side, according to Chicago police.
The collision occurred in the 2600 block of West Madison Street just before 6 a.m., according to information from the Chicago Fire Department.
Police said the driver of the involved Buick LeSabre was a 27-year-old man. As he drove west on Madison Street "at a high rate of speed," police said, he lost control of the Buick, and it hit a parked car before it slammed into the bus.
The car's driver and all three female passengers in the car died. A 23-year-old was taken by ambulance to Stroger Hospital, where she and the man were pronounced dead, and a 22-year-old and a 25-year-old were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, according to police.
The bus driver and three passengers also were taken to hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. Two people were taken to Rush University Medical Center and Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center in serious condition. Two were taken in good condition to Saint Mary's, fire officials said.
Police are investigating whether the cause of the crash was alcohol-related, a police spokesman said. Alcohol was found in the Buick, but it was not immediately clear where in the vehicle it was or whether it was open. Toxicology tests are common following a crash with multiple fatalities, and the results typically take weeks to be returned.
