Ill. bus driver, 5 others injured in bus accident in western Ky.

PADUCAH, Ky. -- A charter bus returning to Illinois with 13 passengers struck a tractor-trailer truck in western Kentucky early Sunday, authorities said.

Bus driver Billy E. White, 71, of Ozark, Ill., was flown to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Ind., McCracken County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Kevin Lynn said in a statement. Five passengers were treated for minor injuries at local hospitals.

Both vehicles were traveling west on Interstate 24 when the bus struck the rear of the truck around 5:40 a.m., Lynn said. The bus was returning to Carbondale, Ill., from a bingo convention in Alabama.

Weather and road conditions were not factors in the accident, said Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement spokesman Officer Paul Doublin.