Horrific bus accident kills 8 and injures dozens more

It has been a dangerous and deadly week for transportation accidents in the U.S. Earlier this week, we wrote about the Chicago train accident involving an unoccupied, four-car train that somehow ran the wrong way down the tracks and collided with another train stopped at a station. Thankfully, no one was killed during that incident, but many people suffered at least minor injuries.

Late yesterday, news outlets from around the country began reporting on a fatal bus accident in Tennessee that so far has killed eight people and injured at least a dozen others. Investigators are currently working to determine what may have caused this devastating wreck.

The bus was reportedly carrying a group of senior citizens home from a Christian festival at the time of the accident. According to news sources, the bus was traveling east on the Interstate when its left front tire failed. This may be what caused the bus to swerve toward the median, break through a barrier of steel cables and come into contact with traffic on the other side of the highway.

The bus then clipped a Chevy Tahoe SUV and went on to T-bone a tractor-trailer before flipping onto its side. The semi quickly became engulfed in flames. The deceased victims include the driver of the truck, one person in the SUV and six passengers aboard the bus. About a dozen others involved in the crash suffered a range of injuries.

In the wake of a horrific crash like this one, the immediate priorities are to save lives, mourn the dead and clear the wreckage. But nearly as important is the priority to thoroughly investigate the cause of the crash in order to keep it from happening again.

While it is too early to draw definitive conclusions, investigators are reportedly looking into the blown tire, the bus’ brake systems, the experience of the driver and a number of other factors.

Source: KnoxNews.com, “I-40 reopened, questions begin,”  Megan Boehnke, Hayes Hickman, Don Jacobs, Matt Lakin, Oct. 2, 2013