Update, 2:55 p.m.: Sgt. Lonny Haschel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said 44 people were taken to area hospitals after this morning's charter bus crash that left two dead. The names of the passengers who died and the driver, who was among the injured, have not been released.
Investigators are still at the scene and mapping out the area where the crash occurred. Sgt. Haschel said it's too early to say what caused the accident. "It's going to be a long process," he said.
Update, 1:40 p.m.: The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating this morning's charter bus crash in Irving. NTSB has dispatched two investigators from its Texas regional office.
Update, 12:17 p.m.: Alex Eastman, interim trauma medical director at Parkland, said the hospital is treating 15 people injured in the charter bus crash in Irving. Four of the injured are critical and one of them is in the operating room. The patients range from 66 to 80 years old. Thirteen are females and two are males. More than 200 units of blood were available when the patients arrived.
Our original story:
A charter bus carrying passengers to a casino in Durant, Oklahoma, just north of the Texas border, crashed on State Highway 161 in Irving Thursday morning, killing two and injuring several more.
The Dallas Morning News is reporting that the bus, operated by Cardinal Coach Line out of Mansfield, was headed northbound on the turnpike when it veered off the road, hitting a barrier and eventually flipping over onto a grassy median.
WFAA-Channel 8 is reporting that many of the injured are seniors and were taken to Parkland Hospital, Methodist Dallas Medical Center and Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Motorists driving on the highway reportedly pulled over and began assisting those injured in the crash.
