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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 14 March 2018

Ropes, phones used in rescue after deadly bus plunge

dedicated to his job, dedi-
cated to his kids.”
Channelview High’s grad-
uates include University
of Alabama quarterback
Jalen Hurts, who tweeted:
“Wow, praying for every-
one involved! #Prayfor-
Channelview.”
Josh Torres said his 17-year-
old sister, Bianca Torres,
was sitting at the rear of
the bus when the impact
of the wreck tossed her
forward several rows. She
had pain in her legs and
bruising but was otherwise
unscathed and taken to a
hospital for evaluation, he
Rescue crews work at the scene of a deadly charter bus crash on Tuesday, March 13, 2018, in said.
Loxley, Ala. The bus carrying Texas high school band members home from Disney World plunged “All that she remembers is
into a ravine before dawn Tuesday. that she felt a bump, then
(AP Photo/Dan Anderson) a crash and then the bus
By JAY REEVES as lights to get out and other facilities in Pensacola flipping onto its side,” Tor-
DAN ANDERSON grabbed blankets to help and southwest Alabama res said.
Associated Press people outside, he said. for injuries that ranged Torres said his brother, also
LOXLEY, Ala. (AP) — Lulled Temperatures were in from minor to very serious. a member of the Chan-
asleep by the humming the 40s at the time of the The sheriff said it wasn’t nelview band, was on a
of their Texas-bound char- wreck, which happened immediately clear what second band bus that
ter bus following a trip to around 5:30 a.m. caused the bus to enter wasn’t involved in the ac-
Disney World, members of First responders used ropes the grassy median, which cident. That bus stopped
a high school band were to rappel down the more abruptly ends at a steep briefly and continued on
jarred awake before dawn than 50-foot (15-meter) ra- embankment where the to Channelview, a Houston
Tuesday when the rig ran vine in the middle of I-10 interstate passes over suburb of about 38,000.
off a highway and plunged and then had to cut some Cowpen Creek. First Class Only hours before the
into a deep ravine. of the victims from the Tours Inc., the bus opera- crash, the band’s Face-
One person died, driver wreckage, said Baldwin tor, identified Caligone as book page had been
Harry Caligone, and about County Sheriff Huey Hoss a longtime driver with the updated to show a large
three dozen others were Mack. company. group posing outside Dis-
hurt, six seriously, authorities Sister-in-law Angela Cali- ney World, where the band
and the bus company said. The Channelview Indepen- gone, 58, of Houston, said performed at a music festi-
Interstate 10 didn’t reopen dent School District said Harry Caligone had been val Saturday.
in both directions for about 40 students and six adults a bus driver for 20-plus Norman Haynes of Victo-
10 hours after the accident from the school were on years, the last 15 with the ria, Texas, said his daugh-
occurred between Mobile, board. Medical officials company, and had “just ter, 18-year-old trumpet
Alabama, and Pensacola, said at least 37 people, passed his physical with player Makena Campa,
Florida. most of them teenagers, flying colors.” She recalled was headed home on the
The cause of the crash were treated at hospitals or him as “fun-loving, caring, bus with her mother.q
wasn’t immediately known,
but survivors from Channel-
view High School in metro
Houston described being
asleep one moment and
tumbling through the air
the next.
Student DeWayne Benson,
15, told KTRK-TV by tele-
phone he awoke to hear
the band director repeat-
edly say “Harry” before
the bus hit some bumps
followed by one “huge
bump.”
“Some students were stuck
under seats, some were on
top of other students and
there’s a lot of panic to get
people out,” said Benson,
who was taken to a hospi-
tal but wasn’t injured.
Students used cellphones