MILWAUKEE — A 26-year-old woman died after a multi-vehicle crash involving a school bus Monday morning.
She has been identified by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office as Kathryn Marie Lemke.
The crash happened shortly before 9 a.m. at South 27th Street and Howard Avenue. Greenfield Police are leading the investigation. According to the Medical Examiner's report, Lemke passed the vehicles stopped at the red light on the right, and ran the light herself before hitting the rear backside of the bus.
There were no signs of drug or alcohol use in Lemke's vehicle, but her cell phone was found in her right hand and pressed against her stomach. She was not wearing a seatbelt. Speed was a factor in the crash.
Lemke's car was wedged under a school bus and remnants of a gray SUV were surrounded by black fabric. A total of five vehicles were involved.
The school bus driver and three others were taken to a hospital, all expected to be ok.
"I just heard like a loud boom and a lot of commotion and traffic abruptly coming to a halt," driver Regina Ivy told TMJ4.
Ivy and other drivers say they rushed to help.
"It was pretty chaotic. Everybody stopped their vehicles to look to see if everybody was ok," another driver named Gary recalled.
Watch: One woman dead after multi-vehicle crash involving a school bus
"When you hear the term that the bus is on its side or the bus rolled over it brings it to a whole different level," said Roger Dean Brown, a manager with bus company Lamers.
Brown tells TMJ4 that their bus driver has worked with the company for years, has a "spotless record" and had just finished morning routes.
Brown says the bus was going south on 27th Street when another driver going east on Howard Avenue ran a red light, hitting the bus and forcing it into nearby cars.
"When you look at what happened here with serious injuries and deaths involved, and all the vehicles this obviously could've been prevented. This is something that shouldn't have happened," Brown stated.
Ivy says after offering to help she led some people in prayer.
"It was a lot of emotion in the air," Ivy described.
"It's just sad. Sad for those people in this accident. It's very sad for the person that passed away. I can't imagine what her family is going through right now my condolences to them," Gary said.
Greenfield Police officials would not confirm that a driver blew through a red light causing the crash, only saying that the investigation is ongoing.
They are working with the Wisconsin State Patrol.
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