Fourteen people were killed in a tragic accident after a Mississippi-bound charter bus from Chicago flipped over on Interstate 55, near Marion, AR.
Thirty people were aboard the 16-year-old tour bus.
The crash site, according to witnesses, was almost too terrible to look at. Bodies were scattered across a field with people unconscious or moaning and some crushed underneath the sheared-off roof of the bus. Only one victim, who was dead, was found inside the wrecked vehicle.
The remaining 16 passengers were all injured, some critically, with survivors suffering collapsed lungs, broken hips and head wounds.
The owner of the mom-and-pop tour operation, Roosevelt Waiters of Chicago, lost his wife, Marean, and brother, Herbert, both 67, in the crash. Walters' wife arranged the trip; his brother was the driver.
Among the others killed were: Sandra Clark, 62, John Hawkins, 49, Fannie Jacobs, 68, Charlie B. Lowe, 75, Maxie Lyons, 64, Mamie McCormick, 69, Genise Meekins, 50, William Morris, 58, Derrick Poole, 37, Cornelia Roseborough, 76, Joyce Drain, 64 and Euzelia Vaughn, 57.
The twice-a-year trip had become a tradition for the passengers, as much about visiting, laughing and reminiscing as it was about trying to strike it rich at a casino in Tunica. MS.
Investigators planned to create computer models of the accident in their search for a cause. Authorities said the probe would include an attempt to determine if the driver fell asleep, and a review of the mechanical condition of the bus. Investigators also want to know if weather or road conditions contributed to the wreck.
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler warned that it would be some time before the cause of the accident is determined. "There is not going to be a magic answer provided ... to the question, 'How did this crash happen?'"
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