September 23, 2005
Bus Carrying Elderly Storm EvacueesExplodes Near Dallas
By RICK LYMAN and VIKAS BAJAJ
HOUSTON, Sept. 23 - A bus carrying elderly evacuees from an assisted living center in Houston exploded into flames on its way to Dallas early this morning, killing at least 20 people, according to the Dallas County sheriff's office. The county medical examiner's office said the death toll could be as high as 24 and the number might change throughout the day.
The bus was carrying 44 people - 38 residents and 6 staff members - from Brighton Gardens of Bellaire, an assisted living center in Bellaire, a suburb southwest of Houston, when it caught fire on Interstate 45, the main highway connecting Dallas and Houston. The explosion occurred near Hutchins, a suburb about 13 miles from downtown Dallas.
Witnesses talking to local TV reporters said there was smoke coming out of the bus which was pulled over to the side of the road before it exploded at 7 a.m. Central time. Traffic behind the bus stopped immediately and was backed up 17 miles within 10 minutes and more than 20 miles shortly thereafter. People jumped out of their cars and tried to get into the bus, breaking through the windows, to get the people out. According to reports, at least 14 people did get out of the bus alive, though injured.
About a dozen people were taken to Dallas areas hospitals and nine of those had arrived at Parkland Hospital as of 9 a.m. local time, said Melissa Turner, a spokeswoman for the county-run hospital.
"From what we understand the worse injury is smoke inhalation," Ms. Turner said. "We are awaiting our next update."
The bus appears to have caught fire because of mechanical problems and the situation might have been made worse when patients' oxygen tanks started exploding, Don Peritz, a spokesman for the Dallas County sheriff told The Associated Press. The driver appears to have survived.
"It's my understanding he went back on the bus several times to try to evacuate people," Mr. Peritz said.
Images of the flaming bus were broadcast on live local television and picked up on national cable news channels. By 8 a.m., police were diverting traffic off Interstate 45 and around the accident scene, but the backup was still severe.
In Houston, city officials defended their decision to encourage residents of the nation's fourth-largest city to evacuate. Mayor Bill White insisted that a mandatory evacuation order applied only to low-lying areas and not the city as a whole.
As they did Thursday night, the mayor and other officials told people living in the "voluntary evacuation" area, which includes most of metropolitan Houston, to stay off the highways and at home - that it was too late to try to escape the storm and their safest bet was to hunker down at home.
The elderly, especially those that need constant medical supervision are often at the greatest risk of death and serious injury during hurried evacuations, according to health experts. This morning the average temperature in Dallas and Houston was 81 degrees and was expected to rise to a high of 90 degrees.
Rick Lyman reported from Houston and Vikas Bajaj reported from New York for this article.
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