LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A bus ferrying workers from Michigan to Texas ran off a cross-country interstate in Arkansas and hit a bridge, killing six people and injuring six others, authorities said Friday. The impact sheared much of the roof from the bus and ejected some passengers onto the busy interstate.
The crash occurred about 1 a.m. Friday on Interstate 40 in North Little Rock. A heavy storm had recently passed through the area and left light rain and fog in its wake, but it wasn't immediately known if weather played a role.
State Police Maj. Mike Foster said the bus driver, licensed in Michigan, ran off the right side of highway, struck a wall and continued along until the vehicle struck a bridge. Highway officials said the span remained structurally sound.
Three employees of the Vasquez Citrus and Hauling Co. were transporting 19 workers from Monroe, Michigan, to Laredo, Texas, Foster said. Police did not discuss the nature of the laborers' work. The company had posted advertisements last spring at a Michigan jobs site seeking seasonal farm workers whose employment would end in November.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Homeland Security would both be involved in the investigation, said Col. Bill Bryant, the head of the Arkansas State Police. Police said officers were working with the Mexican Consulate in an effort to notify the next of kin, though the victims' nationalities have not been confirmed.
Foster said Vasquez was based in Lake Placid, Florida.
Photographs from Little Rock television stations KATV and KTHV showed the bus with nearly all its roof torn off, with most of the damage toward the rear of the vehicle. Traffic was snarled for hours but all debris and the bus were towed away before daybreak.
The bus had "Continental" painted in bold red letters on the sides.
Jeff Lawson, who identified himself as the owner of Continental Charters in Detroit, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper that he sold a bus Saturday to a man who "said he needed a second bus to haul people from (Detroit) to Texas... and Florida." Lawson said Continental Charters did not have any scheduled routes in Arkansas on Thursday and does not regularly operate in the area.
Troopers said they received reports about a single-vehicle crash around 1 a.m. Three of the six killed had been ejected from the bus and one was partially ejected, Bryant said. The other two died within the vehicle, he said.
The driver was among the 16 survivors. Foster said that, as a matter of routine, he would be checked for drug or alcohol use, but authorities don't suspect it in this case. Foster also asked any witnesses to step forward.
The American Red Cross tended to eight people on the bus who were uninjured, Regional Communications Director Brigette Williams said. Williams said the Red Cross is providing mental health services for the survivors. "As you can imagine, people are pretty shaken by this," she said.
The National Transportation Safety Board will be looking into safety issues, including possible driver fatigue and how the surviving passengers were protected, spokesman Eric Weiss said.
State Police Maj. Mike Foster said the bus driver, licensed in Michigan, ran off the right side of highway, struck a wall and continued along until the vehicle struck a bridge. Highway officials said the span remained structurally sound.
Three employees of the Vasquez Citrus and Hauling Co. were transporting 19 workers from Monroe, Michigan, to Laredo, Texas, Foster said. Police did not discuss the nature of the laborers' work. The company had posted advertisements last spring at a Michigan jobs site seeking seasonal farm workers whose employment would end in November.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Homeland Security would both be involved in the investigation, said Col. Bill Bryant, the head of the Arkansas State Police. Police said officers were working with the Mexican Consulate in an effort to notify the next of kin, though the victims' nationalities have not been confirmed.
Foster said Vasquez was based in Lake Placid, Florida.
Photographs from Little Rock television stations KATV and KTHV showed the bus with nearly all its roof torn off, with most of the damage toward the rear of the vehicle. Traffic was snarled for hours but all debris and the bus were towed away before daybreak.
The bus had "Continental" painted in bold red letters on the sides.
Jeff Lawson, who identified himself as the owner of Continental Charters in Detroit, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper that he sold a bus Saturday to a man who "said he needed a second bus to haul people from (Detroit) to Texas... and Florida." Lawson said Continental Charters did not have any scheduled routes in Arkansas on Thursday and does not regularly operate in the area.
Troopers said they received reports about a single-vehicle crash around 1 a.m. Three of the six killed had been ejected from the bus and one was partially ejected, Bryant said. The other two died within the vehicle, he said.
The driver was among the 16 survivors. Foster said that, as a matter of routine, he would be checked for drug or alcohol use, but authorities don't suspect it in this case. Foster also asked any witnesses to step forward.
The American Red Cross tended to eight people on the bus who were uninjured, Regional Communications Director Brigette Williams said. Williams said the Red Cross is providing mental health services for the survivors. "As you can imagine, people are pretty shaken by this," she said.
The National Transportation Safety Board will be looking into safety issues, including possible driver fatigue and how the surviving passengers were protected, spokesman Eric Weiss said.
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