GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Two students from Northview Public Schools were among the 17 people injured in a fiery wreck on I-96 east of Lansing over the weekend.

The crash happened Saturday night on the westbound lanes of the highway on an overpass at the Webberville exit. Michigan State Police say a semi-truck driver was unable to stop for backed-up traffic, hit several vehicles and caught fire. Ultimately, 15 vehicles were involved in the crash.

Joe Bogue was headed west on I-96 when he came upon the crash.

“The traffic was very light up until that point, and I was just driving along and I came around a curve and saw all the fire in the sky, basically,” he told News 8 Monday. “I didn’t ever suspect it would be like a semi with 15 cars. I didn’t know what it was, but I didn’t think it would be that, something so tragic.”

Four people were killed: Three relatives from Lansing who were all in the same car and a Carson City man in a separate vehicle.

“It’s very sad to think about,” Bogue said. “I didn’t even consider that until later on that night, exactly how lucky I was to be 10 minutes later. I could have very well been in that.”

Northview — a district just north of Grand Rapids — had students on the highway headed back from Detroit, where the marching band was competing in a state final.

Two students were hospitalized after the crash, Northview Deputy Superintendent Angela Jefferson said in a Monday statement, but their injuries were not serious and they were released the following morning.

“We were deeply saddened to learn of the accident that occurred this weekend as our students, families and volunteers were returning from the state band competition in Detroit,” Jefferson’s statement said. “While we are grateful that nobody from the school district was seriously injured … our hearts go out to those families and friends who were impacted by the accident.”

The Northview Band Boosters posted on Facebook that one of the band’s trailers seemed to have been involved in the crash but everyone was OK and the trailer was drivable. Buses bringing students and spectators back were behind the crash and had to be rerouted, but arrived back in West Michigan overnight, the booster posts indicated.

MSP said Monday afternoon that only two of the 17 patients remained in the hospital. One of them was the semi-truck driver, who was at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.

Jefferson’s statement said school counselors were available to support students or families who may need help.