NW Ind. student group stuck on Pennsylvania Turnpike

PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE, Pa. (WLS) -- More than two dozen students from Griffith, Ind., are stuck Saturday afternoon on a bus on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, just south of Pittsburgh, because of the blizzard pounding the East Coast.

Twenty-eight 8th graders and about one dozen adults were returning from a field trip in Washington, D.C.

The Chicago area group is not the only ones stuck on the turnpike, which is snarled by a massive snow storm that has been pounding the East Coast since Friday night. The Pennsylvania Turnpike is closed for 86 miles Saturday due to the severe weather.

The Duquesne men's basketball team and the Temple women's gymnastics team are still looking to get home after being stranded in traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The Griffith group left early Friday morning, hoping to get ahead of the storm, but got stuck.

A chaperone spoke to ABC7 and says there is heat on the bus.

"We have enough snacks, we did get some water from one of the local Walmart stores and they tell us there is some food coming through either the National Guard or from local people," said Fr. Theodore Mens, of St. Mary School of Griffith.

They bus is expected to start moving again until Sunday morning, at the earliest.