Seven killed, dozens are injured in Mississippi bus crash

WAPT, CNN

By Amanda Musa and Rafael Romo, CNN

(CNN) — Seven people were killed and dozens injured early Saturday when a commercial passenger bus headed for Mexico experienced tire failure and rolled over off a highway east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, officials said.

The National Transportation Board said it was sending a team to help with a safety investigation into the crash on Interstate 20.

Among those killed were siblings who were 6 and 16 years old, Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said. Thirty-seven passengers were transported to hospitals in Vicksburg and Jackson with unknown injuries, the Mississippi Highway Patrol said.

The 2018 Volvo bus overturned in the westbound lanes near Bovina, the highway patrol said.

“Anytime you have people injured or killed, it’s tragic but when you have a situation like this where you have multiple fatalities and multiple injuries, it makes it even worse,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace told CNN affiliate WAPT.

The bus belongs to Autobuses Regiomontanos, which transports passengers between Mexico and the United States, according to Miranda Fernandez, a company spokesperson. The company is based in Monterrey, Mexico, Fernandez said, and has several locations in the United States, according to a company website.

It’s unclear in which city the bus originated, according to Fernandez, but it was on its way to Mexico.

“All of the passengers go through proper immigration checkpoints and must show their passports or visas to enter either Mexico or the United States,” Fernandez told CNN.

“Several Mexican identification documents” were found on the bus, according to Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesperson Kervin Stewart.

Six passengers were pronounced dead at the scene while the seventh died at a hospital, according to the highway patrol.

Tow truck driver Keith Allison told WAPT the bus ended up in a ditch and many passengers were ejected.

The bus experienced a tire failure before crashing, the NTSB said in a post on X. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Rebekah Riess and Sara Finch contributed to this report.