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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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 Fri Sep 23, 2005 7:37 pm [RITA]Elderly Evacuees Die in Bus Fire |
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| Quote: | WILMER, Texas (Sept. 23) - A bus ferrying nursing home residents away from Hurricane Rita caught fire and exploded Friday while stuck on a gridlocked highway south of Dallas, killing as many as 24 people.
by Sheila Flynn
Early indications were that mechanical problems, possibly with the vehicle's brakes, sparked the fire, which was then fed by explosions of passengers' oxygen tanks, Dallas County sheriff's spokesman Don Peritz said.
Authorities believed 24 people were killed, but that number could change, Peritz said. The medical examiner's office was still working to determine the number of fatalities.
The bus was carrying 38 residents and six employees of the Brighton Gardens nursing home in Houston, according to Sunrise Senior Living, the Virginia company that owns the center.
Sheriff's deputies and the bus driver tried to rescue passengers but could not get everyone off the bus as it became engulfed in flames. The vehicle was reduced to a blackened, burned-out shell, with large blue tarps covering the bodies.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of specialists and investigators to the scene.
The fire caused a lengthy backup on Interstate 45, which was already congested with evacuees from the Gulf Coast. The interstate was shut down about four hours but reopened after authorities made the unusual decision to move the remains of the bus so hurricane evacuees could get through.
"You have thousands of people who are in their vehicles trying to escape," Peritz said.
Tina Jones, a nurse from Ennis, pulled over and helped treat the injured after witnessing the explosion. She said she saw at least six dead bodies.
"I'll probably go home and have a good cry," she said.
Fred Witte, 74, said he heard three explosions from his property about 150 yards from where the bus caught fire.
"I was right there at the corner, and I felt the pressure," he said of the first explosion.
Sunrise Chairman and Chief Executive Paul Klaasen said in a statement that the company's "primary concern is for the safety of our residents, and we are shocked and saddened that this event occurred during our evacuation."
Ten patients, including the driver, had been treated and released at hospitals by Friday afternoon. Four patients remained hospitalized, one in stable condition and three in fair condition.
The bus was en route to another home owned by the same company and was traveling with a second bus. The other bus arrived safely in Dallas, company spokesman Jamison Gosselin.
Interstate 45 stretches more than 250 miles from Galveston through Houston to Dallas. The crash site was roughly 17 miles southeast of downtown Dallas.
Associated Press writers Schuyler Dixon and Zinie Chen Sampson contributed to this report.
9/23/2005 12:05:09
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press |
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Fri Sep 23, 2005 7:39 pm |
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This is so sad...
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Fri Sep 23, 2005 7:54 pm |
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This is aweful. I hope they find what caused the explosion...
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webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
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| Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:28 am |
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The presence of several people all using oxygen at least contributed to the explosion, and may have caused it. Many materials which would normally be non-explosive or non-flammable under normal conditions become so when the oxygen percentage in the air is raised, even just a little. This really should have been taken into account when deciding how to evacuate those people.
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"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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