Woman killed in 4-vehicle crash involving Pace bus near North Aurora

A woman was killed in a four-vehicle crash involving a Pace bus Wednesday morning near west suburban North Aurora, authorities said.

Monica Cruz, 41, was driving a Mercury Mountaineer SUV north about 7 a.m. on Route 31 north of Oak Street near North Aurora when she apparently lost control on the icy road and the SUV crossed the center line, according to a statement from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office. The SUV then entered the southbound lanes and hit a southbound Pace bus.

The collision with the bus pushed the Mercury back into the northbound lanes, where it hit a northbound Honda Civic, the sheriff’s office said. A northbound GMC van then hit the Mercury.

Cruz, who lived in Elgin, was dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.

The 52-year-old woman driving the Pace bus and one of the two passengers aboard it, a 56-year-old Aurora man, were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, according to the sheriff’s office and Pace spokeswoman Maggie Daly Skogsbakken.

Skogsbakken said the other passenger was driven to work after the crash and that the bus driver did not appear to be at fault in the crash.

The other bus passenger was a 19-year-old Batavia woman, while a 62-year-old Aurora man was driving the GMC and a 50-year-old Oswego man was driving the Honda, the sheriff’s office said. None of them were injured.

Route 31 was closed between North Aurora and Batavia until 11 a.m. while crews investigated the crash, the sheriff’s office said. Icy road conditions appeared to be a factor.