(Rightallegiance.com) – Seven people were tragically killed and dozens more injured early Saturday when a commercial passenger bus, en route to Mexico, suffered a tire failure and overturned on Interstate 20 near Vicksburg, Mississippi, authorities confirmed. The bus, a 2018 Volvo, veered off the highway in the westbound lanes near Bovina, leading to a devastating rollover that left the vehicle in a ditch, with many passengers ejected from their seats.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight, and emergency services quickly arrived on the scene. Six passengers were pronounced dead at the crash site, while a seventh succumbed to injuries at a nearby hospital. Among the deceased were siblings, aged 6 and 16, whose tragic loss underscores the gravity of the accident.
The bus, operated by Autobuses Regiomontanos, was on a journey from the United States to Mexico. The exact origin of the trip remains unclear, but all passengers had cleared the necessary immigration checkpoints, according to a company spokesperson, Miranda Fernandez. Fernandez also confirmed that the company, based in Monterrey, Mexico, operates several routes between the U.S. and Mexico.
Mississippi Highway Patrol and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are conducting a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the crash. Preliminary reports indicate that tire failure was a significant factor, leading to the bus overturning. The NTSB has dispatched a team to assist with the investigation, aiming to uncover the precise circumstances that led to the tire malfunction and the subsequent fatalities.
Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace expressed the community’s sorrow in an interview with CNN affiliate WAPT, stating, “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.”
Tow truck driver Keith Allison, who responded to the scene, described the aftermath as harrowing, noting that many of the bus’s passengers were ejected upon impact. The survivors, a total of 37 people, were transported to hospitals in Vicksburg and Jackson, where they are receiving treatment for injuries of varying severity.
As investigators work to piece together the events leading up to the crash, the community is left grappling with the heartbreaking loss of life and the uncertainty surrounding the safety of such long-distance bus travel.