September 23, 2005
Tragedy
BREAKING NEWS: A bus full of elderly evacuees from our area has been consumed by fire south of Dallas. The TV images are horrific. WFAA in Dallas is there.
An intercity passenger bus carrying evacuees from Hurricane Rita was destroyed by fire on Interstate 45 in Wilmer early Friday, killing at least one person and injuring a number of others.All northbound lanes of the highway and the service road were shut down at Mars Road, leading to a backup of three to four miles.
One motorist told News 8 he saw what appeared to be an explosion before flames engulfed the bus.
Emergency officials said at least one person was killed and more than a dozen others were being treated for injuries. Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas was prepared to receive some of the victims.
There was no information about the extent or nature of injuries to passengers or the bus driver.
Aerial video shows drivers stuck behind the accident site on I-45 are driving across fields to try to get around the scene. Jeez.
Now KHOU in Houston reports:
“There were 45 souls on the bus ... at this point we believe we have about half accounted for,” Dallas County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Don Peritz. He said early indications were that a mechanical problem caused the blaze and that passengers’ oxygen tanks caught fire.The bus was engulfed with flames, causing a 17-mile backup on a freeway that was already heavily congested with evacuees from the Gulf Coast. By early Friday morning, the bus was reduced to a blackened, burned-out shell, surrounded by numerous police cars and ambulances.
“The early indications are this is a mechanical issue,” Peritz said. “The driver did survive the accident. It’s my understanding he went back on the bus several times to try to evacuate people.”
UPDATE: Media now reports at least 20 dead. God rest their souls. Unfortunately and inevitably, there will be more casualties before this storm passes.
Posted by Alan at September 23, 2005 07:22 AM