Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

DALLAS — A bus filled with Hurricane Rita evacuees caught fire early Friday on gridlocked Interstate 45, killing possibly up to 20 people.

KFAA-TV reported that 20 people had been killed and 12 injured, but that could not be confirmed.

KDFW-TV reported that more that one person was killed, and that some people may have been trapped aboard the bus.

"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 said.

"We believe it's going to be closer to 20 fatalities," Peritz later added.

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

A Dallas County Sheriff's Department official told FOX News that the bus had been carrying elderly evacuees from coastal areas expected to be hit by the giant hurricane.

He said sparks from the bus's brakes may have ignited oxygen tanks being carried onboard by elderly passengers with respiratory problems.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,170212,00.html

One dead, 12 injured.

I heard 24 dead.

Dang! Now the local news is saying 12 and 12. 6 staff injured. Do you get the idea no one knows?

Dang! Now the local news is saying 12 and 12. 6 staff injured. Do you get the idea no one knows?

I think that entire evacuation from Houston north is one big mess, and from the media reports it seems like nobody has a handle on anything. There were supposedly gas tanker trucks sent out to refuel stalled cars, but people being interviewed said they never saw any tankers. We're already running out of gas at many stations here in Dallas, and the hotels and motels are full. My neighbor borrowed my 5gal gas can so he could go "rescue" a relative who is stuck somewhere inbetween - he had to borrow the gas can because every local store was sold out of gas cans!

And how much foresight does it take to buy a gas can or two before crisis looms? My God...I have several gas cans sitting around (full) and I don't even live in a hurricane zone.

Some people just weren't cut out to thrive I guess.

My wife called me and said the neighbor was looking for a gas can - she almost gave him a can with 2-stroke oil/gas mixture (neither she nor the neighbor understood the difference). That would have been interesting.