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11/21/2024 11:30:24 pm

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Prison Bus Crash Off Texas Highway Kills At Least 10 Passengers

Vehicular Accidents Due to Icy Roads

(Photo : Reuters) Vehicles drive past a car which went into a ditch due to icy roads on motorway A45 near the western German town of Olpe December 16, 2011. Heavy snowfalls in the early morning hours of Friday caused several minor traffic accidents and temporary total roadblocks on the western German motorways A45 and A4. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay (GERMANY - Tags: TRANSPORT ENVIRONMENT DISASTER)

Snowy roads took their toll anew on American travelers on Wednesday in Texas when a prison bus slipped off an icy highway overpass, slid and hit a train. The accident killed two corrections officers and eight inmates.

The bus was trying to avoid another accident on the overpass and possibly hit black ice, according to Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson. After it collided with the train, the bus was dragged for about 200 yards before the train stopped, reports ABC.

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But along the way, several smaller accidents occurred after the initial collision as the bus was dragged.


The remaining bus passengers, made up of a corrections officer and four inmates, were brought to a local hospital for treatment of injuries.

The bus left Abilene at 7:30 a.m. and was on its way to El Paso when the accident occurred, Corrections Department Executive Director Brad Livingston said in a statement. He sent the department mourns with a heavy heart, the death of those who were in the road accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board deployed a team to Odessa to investigate the accident, said Livingston.

Seattlepi identified the dead officers as Christopher Davis, 53, and Eligio Garcia, 45. Davis has been with the department for 11 years, while Garcia has served for 22 years.

The inmates who died are Byron Lynn Wilson, 34; Tyler Edward Townsend, 29; Jesus Corrales Reyna, 44; Kaleb Dimetry Wise, 22; Adolfo Ruiz, 32; Michael Shawn Stewart, 25; Angel Cruz Vasquez, 31 and Jeremiah Ruben Rodriguez, 35.

Those in the hospital with injuries are Correction Officer Jason Self, 38; inmates Terry Lavell Johnson, 22; Remigio Pineda, 34; Damien Anthony Rodriguez, 22; and Hector Rivera, 37.

Last week, I-94 in Michigan closed for several hours due to multiple vehicle collision also caused by icy roads.

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