CASTLE CREEK, N.Y. (AP) – A second construction worker died after a bus carrying a Missouri college group crashed into a tractor-trailer and a cement truck along a highway work site.

Eleven other people, including seven bus passengers, were injured following the Friday morning accident on Interstate 81, just north of Binghamton, state police said.

“(The bus) was going way too fast and hit the truck and ricocheted into the work zone,” said Jack Williams, regional director for the state Department of Transportation.

Police said Jason Pessoni, 30, of Cininnatus, was killed when he was hit by the bus. Jonathan Randall, 32, was pronounced dead later at a nearby hospital.

Another construction worker, Wayne Bonsell, 39, of Binghamton and the bus driver, Robert Smith, 57, of Ozark, Mo., were listed in critical condition. Smith was trapped in the wreckage for nearly two hours before he could be extricated.

The tour bus, operated by Show Me Coaches of Ozark, Mo., was heading south on its way from Syracuse to Long Island. The bus was carrying about three dozen students from Central Bible College in Springfield, Mo. The students were members of a choral group, Heartsong, on tour in New York.

The injuries sustained by the seven bus passengers were minor, police said.

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Information from: Press & Sun-Bulletin, http://www.pressconnects.com

AP-ES-05-21-05 0853EDT

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