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| At Least 4 Killed as Train Barrels Into Charter Bus in Biloxi | At Least 4 Killed as Train Barrels Into Charter Bus in Biloxi |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A freight train slammed into a charter bus full of people on their way to a casino on Tuesday afternoon in Biloxi, Miss., killing at least four people onboard and injuring many more, the authorities said. | |
| The charter bus, which was near its destination in Biloxi on a trip from Austin, Tex., appeared to have gotten stuck on the railroad tracks at a crossing and could not move before the train hit it, the Biloxi Police Department said. About 50 people, including many members of a senior center in Texas, were on the bus when the crash occurred, around 2:12 p.m., and every passenger appeared to have some injuries, said the police chief, John Miller. | |
| “It’s a terrible tragedy,” Chief Miller said at a news conference, adding that the accident was the worst of its kind that he could recall in Biloxi. “It is a terrible, chaotic scene right now, but we have it under control.” | “It’s a terrible tragedy,” Chief Miller said at a news conference, adding that the accident was the worst of its kind that he could recall in Biloxi. “It is a terrible, chaotic scene right now, but we have it under control.” |
| A witness who called 911 and ran to the accident described a horrific sight: the locomotive, still running, tearing into the driver’s side of the bus and knocking people out of their seats. | A witness who called 911 and ran to the accident described a horrific sight: the locomotive, still running, tearing into the driver’s side of the bus and knocking people out of their seats. |
| “I went out there, and I started hearing sirens,” said Bradley Raye, a manager at Hammett’s Auto Electric, located about 200 feet from where the accident occurred. “I saw a few body parts.” | |
| Passengers on the bus, which was operated by the Texas-based company Echo Transportation, said they were traveling from Austin, Chief Miller said. | |
| Many of the passengers were from the Bastrop Senior Center, about 30 miles southeast of Austin. They had departed on Sunday morning for a six-day trip along the gulf coast, the center’s president said. On Tuesday afternoon, the group was heading to a casino in Biloxi before a planned stop in New Orleans. | |
| The center’s president, Barbara Adkins, said a travel coordinator on the bus had told her that the driver was unable to get the bus out of the rail crossing. The driver opened the front and back doors of the bus and escorted some passengers off before the crash, Ms. Adkins said. | |
| She said it appeared that many of the 50 passengers were members of the senior center, which hosts music, art events and entertainment for its members during the week, and relatives traveling with them. | |
| Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and his wife, Cecilia, said they were saddened by the crash.“Cecilia and I are deeply saddened by the loss of life in this tragic accident, and we extend our prayers to the families who lost loved ones and to all those affected by this tragedy,” they said in a statement. | |
| John Ferrari, the chief executive of the TBL Group, which operates Echo Transportation, said he was still gathering information about the crash. Echo, which has a fleet of 113 vehicles, mostly buses and vans, says on its website that it provides travel for schools, tour groups and corporations. Its vehicles have been involved in six crashes in the past two years, but only one resulted in injuries, federal records show. | |
| The freight train, which was operated by CSX, was en route to Mobile, Ala., from New Orleans and had three locomotives and 52 cars, the company said. No one on the train was injured. “Our thoughts are with all involved,” the company said in a statement. | The freight train, which was operated by CSX, was en route to Mobile, Ala., from New Orleans and had three locomotives and 52 cars, the company said. No one on the train was injured. “Our thoughts are with all involved,” the company said in a statement. |
| The CSX rail line originates in New Orleans and runs along the Gulf of Mexico into Mississippi before turning north in Alabama toward Mobile. In Biloxi, the railroad cuts through the southern part of the city, near homes, an industrial area and several casinos. The speed limit for trains there is 45 miles per hour. | |
| The crossing at Main Street, which has two gate arms with flashing lights, has been the site of several crashes in recent years, according to federal records. In 2014, a train slammed into a tractor-trailer, which had gotten stuck on the railroad, injuring a person on the train. Two months ago, a driver of a Pepsi delivery truck jumped out of the cab after his truck got stuck in the way of an oncoming train. | |
| A spokesman for CSX said the company would know more about the accident, including the speed of the train at the time of the crash, after its event recorder is reviewed. |