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March 16, 2010

Mexican tour bus overturns in Texas, killing 2

Associated Press Associated Press

CAMPBELLTON, Texas —  A tour bus headed for Mexico carrying 40 people overturned along a southern Texas highway on Tuesday, killing at least two people and injuring an unknown number of others, officials said.

The accident happened around 10 a.m. on southbound Interstate 37, about 45 miles south of San Antonio, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger told The Associated Press. He said investigators suspect equipment failure may have caused the crash.

“The driver said she heard a loud pop and then lost control of the vehicle,” Vinger said.

Some of the injuries were serious, Vinger said.

Two people were immediately taken to Brooke Army Medical Center and at least four others to University Hospital in San Antonio. Their medical conditions were not immediately known.

The bus was carrying Mexican and American passengers, Vinger said.’

It was headed from San Antonio to Matamoros, Mexico, near the U.S. border, with a planned stop in Falfurrias, Texas, said Greyhound spokeswoman Bonnie Bastian. It was operated by Autobuses Americanos, which is owned by Greyhound.

The bus came to rest on its side in the grassy median. Television footage showed people milling around outside the overturned bus, which had with debris and luggage strewn around it.

Bastian said she did not have any information about the condition of the passengers or information about the driver.

“Right now our priority is to the passengers on the bus,” Bastian said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it has not determined whether it will investigate, agency spokesman Keith Holloway said. A spokeswoman with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the agency had just heard about the crash and was beginning to gather information.

 

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