Brandeis Student Killed In Bus Crash Identified; 27 Injured: Authorities

WALTHAM, MA — One person is dead and 27 are injured after a crash Saturday night in Waltham involving a bus carrying students from Brandeis University, according to authorities.

The school identified the deceased as Vanessa Mark, an undergraduate student who was on leave and living in Waltham, and who President Ron Liebowitz described as “an active and cherished member of the Brandeis community.”

The fatal incident occurred when a shuttle bus crashed into a tree on South Street around 10:30 p.m., according to a joint news release from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and the Waltham Police Department.

The students were traveling from a hockey game at Northeastern University, authorities said. Mark was pronounced dead at the scene, while the remaining 26 students and the driver suffered injuries with varying degrees of severity and were taken to area hospitals, according to authorities.

“The bus was totally destroyed, all the windows on the side were ripped open, and the front end was just totally smashed in,” Brian Belliveau, who lives near the site of the crash, told The Boston Globe.

Brandeis was working with hospitals and police to identify the victims, and said in a statement on its website that 11 people were admitted for further care. In an online update Sunday afternoon, the university said nearly all of those hospitalized had been released.

“Adding to the difficulty of absorbing such painful news is the fact that we all have many unanswered questions at this time,” Liebowitz said in a message Sunday to the school community. “We have been working with Waltham Police as the accident is investigated and will continue to be in close contact with the department.”

Classes at the university were canceled Monday and Tuesday, according to Liebowitz. The Brandeis Counseling Center was set to be open noon to 4 p.m. Sunday and staffed with grief counselors. The center is also available to students by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation Sunday, authorities said.

“Our thoughts & prayers are with our Brandeis community as they work to recover from this horrible accident,” said the city of Waltham, where Brandeis is located, in a tweet.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call Waltham police at 781-314-3600.