[InvisibleChurch]

hmm

[doug from upland]

ABC radio reporting possibly 20 dead.

[michigander]

As many as 20 reportedly dead in evacuee bus fire

07:38 AM CDT on Friday, September 23, 2005

A passenger bus carrying evacuees from the Houston area exploded into flames near Dallas and there are as many as 20 deaths and 25 injuries.

The bus was carrying elderly evacuees from Bellaire, according to the Dallas Fire Department.

“There were 45 souls on the bus ... at this point we believe we have about half accounted for,” Dallas County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Don Peritz. He said early indications were that a mechanical problem caused the blaze and that passengers’ oxygen tanks caught fire.

The bus was engulfed with flames, causing a 17-mile backup on a freeway that was already heavily congested with evacuees from the Gulf Coast. By early Friday morning, the bus was reduced to a blackened, burned-out shell, surrounded by numerous police cars and ambulances.

“The early indications are this is a mechanical issue,” Peritz said. “The driver did survive the accident. It’s my understanding he went back ont he bus several times to try to evacuate people.”

[Maximus of Texas]

24 confirmed dead. I'm in the D/FW area and a local traffic reporter was on the scene pretty earlier. He reported people breaking the windows trying to get out but at the time he couldn't report if anyone was left on the bus.

[montag813]

Let me guess...George W. Bush started the fire, right? Houston's white mayor? Can't wait to see the media hysterical anger towards Bush and anyone from TX.

[montag813]

The sad thing is that many of these people probably didn't have to avacuate to be safe. Life can be rough.

[NRA2BFree]

Oh my gosh. that's just horrible. Prayers go out to all who were on that bus, and to their loved ones.

[quantfive]

I am going to say prayers for these folks. Imigine being 80 and having to get on a bus to flee the town and this happens. This is another tragedy just like the elderly in NO. I loved my grandparents dearly and the two sets I had all pased away in the last 5 years.

[SpottedBeaver]

Here is what I heard on KRLD (AM 1080) Dallas/Ft. Worth local radio.

The bus stopped earlier in the trip because of a flat tire. The driver took the bus to a shop and bought and replaced the tire. A shop mechanic also looked at the brake line and said that there was a problem and a potential for a fire caused by the brakes.

It caught fire exactly as the mechanic warned. Oxygen carried on board, aggravated and fueled the fire.

I'll see if I can find a text link, but this is what they were saying on our local radio station around 8:00am or so Central as I was coming into work.

[M. Espinola]

This is beyond horrible.

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

[Black Tooth]

Just heard about this.

What a nightmare!

[WasDougsLamb]

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

[Colofornian]

Why wasn't Bush behind the steering wheel of this bus? (Where are these feds when you need them?)

[green pastures]

New Orleans Mayor Nagin commented, "See, buses are dangerous. I feel vindicated for not using buses to evacuate my city before Hurricane Katrina."

/sarcasm