Bus explodes carrying evacuees (24 dead, Fox News)

drudgereport. ^ | 9235

[InvisibleChurch]

DEATHS: Bus carrying Hurricane Rita evacuees has exploded on Interstate 45 near Dallas...

[Steve_Seattle]

"Half of the 45 on board have NOT been accounted for, yet (unconfirmed) . . . We just heard 25 dead."
Does this mean they have 25 bodies and 20 missing (incinerated?), or 25 dead and 20 survivors?

[Black Tooth]

It means 25 dead Steve. I don't have all the details.

[Black Tooth]

They are reporting witnesses saying the bus started smoking, and then exploded!

[cgk]

Bus driver sounds like a hero... trying to get as many people off the bus as he could.

[Inge_CAV]

"Way before they reach that point the pressure relief value will open and all the gas will leave the container to reduce the pressure to zero."

"Surce: ME, 10 years as a Professional Firefighter."

Not true and that is a fact.

[Gondring]

Some of these poor folks must feel that fate is hounding them. They evacuate NO to go to Houston and then evacuate Huston...

Someday, people might learn to respect reality of nature, but until then, much of the population is concentrated in coastal and near-coastal areas, as well as other geologically unsound locations.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Bus driver sounds like a hero... trying to get as many people off the bus as he could."

There was another post that claimed the bus previously had a flat tire and that the driver took it to a shop where a mechanic warned him that the brakes were a fire hazard, but the driver decided to continue. Somehow, that doesn't sound credible. In this traffic jam, how could the driver drive a bus with a flat tire to a shop? It sounds like a bogus rumor to me.

[Black Tooth]

He'll never be the same. That must have been a scene right out of a nightmare.

[Gondring]

The demented Islamic enemy would the the sick types to heap additional terror into one of the largest storm related American evacuations.

And the histrionic FReeper would be the type to have knee-jerk speculations on an already painful situation.

[patriciaruth]

Wonderful story!

Kudos to your husband!

Any chance he would be available in the future to help me get my 87 year old aunt and 3 cats out of Hialeah, Florida?

[pettifogger]

Great photo of looters! Much needed smile break.

[cgk]

I agree... and how could we already know that about this bus? Mechanic saw the news, recognized the (burning) bus and called CNN?

[WasDougsLamb]

Those poor people....breaks your heart . :--(

[Gondring]

The important pointhere is that the film footage shows no explosive damage, it looks like a burned out bus noting more.

I don't see any windows. That could very easily be "explosive damage"...there could easily have been explosions, even if no twisted metal. It does look like fire did much of the damage, but there's no way to tell about explosions.

[cgk]

How awful... from what I've heard - some of the bus drivers for retirement homes know their passengers and aren't just hired help for the trip. Praying for him and those who survived in addition to the families of those who didn't make it. They're all going to need it.

[Steve_Seattle]

"And the histrionic FReeper would be the type to have knee-jerk speculations on an already painful situation."

I see your point, but this bus fire is so unusual - no collision involved - and so extreme, that it is incredibly weird that it happened just at the worst possible time and the worst possible place, i.e., a bus full of seniors with oxygen tanks catches fire in the middle of a major evacuation. It is bizarre almost beyond belief, so I forgive those who speculate about terrorism.

[Black Tooth]

Yep. Nothing worse in this world than burning alive. Hopefully most went quick.

[rightinthemiddle]

I once sat in traffic for 7.5 hours driving just 19 miles in Texas, from west Dallas to Fort Worth. People actually got out of their cars, sat around in lawn chairs, walked ahead to convenience stores, etc. I blamed Bush for all of it, cuz he was the governor in Texas.

Of course, that was for a NASCAR race.

[Steve_Seattle]

"It does look like fire did much of the damage, but there's no way to tell about explosions."

It was reported that several of the passengers were invalids with medical oxygen tanks, and those tanks could have set off explosions after the initial fire.

[RetiredArmy]

Is THE END in sight? Just wondering.