Greyhound suspends service. No word on whether this is isolated or terrorist. If terrorist, perhaps we should send them some more food?
Up to 10 feared dead in Tennessee bus crash
October 3, 2001 Posted: 8:49 AM EDT (1249 GMT)
Authorities investigate the Greyhound crash site Wednesday morning in Manchester, Tennessee.
MANCHESTER, Tennessee (CNN) -- A Greyhound bus ran through a median Wednesday morning in Manchester, Tennessee, and crashed after the driver's throat was slit, authorities said. At least 10 people were killed.
A Greyhound Lines representative said the bus company was suspending service nationwide as a precaution. FBI agents from the local office were en route to the scene.
Steve Deford, Coffee County 911 director, said the man who attacked the driver was among the dead.
Roland Colson of the Tennessee Department of Safety said 10 people were dead, but on the scene, Dana Keeton, also from the safety department, said six were dead. Colson said the driver's throat had been cut, but was not certain if he survived.
AUDIO
Witness Carly Rinearson gives her account of the attack and bus crash (Courtesy WTVF)
879 K /
WAV sound
Carly Rinearson, a passenger on the bus, said in a phone call to CNN affiliate WTVF that a man kept asking if he could have her seat near the front of the bus. She said he appeared agitated and kept asking what time it was.
Rinearson said when she refused to give up her seat, "He just went up to the bus driver and like slit his throat. And the bus driver turned the wheel and the bus tipped over."
She did not describe the man further or say what kind of weapon he had.
The bus, which had been carrying 36 passengers on a trip from Nashville to Atlanta, was lying on its side in the median of Interstate 24. The accident occurred near the intersection of I-14 and state Highway 41 near mile marker 105, police said.
Reporters at the scene said that there were skid marks where the bus veered off the road and turned over in the median.
Agents from the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation rushed to the scene.
Victims were being airlifted to hospitals in Nashville to the north and Chattanooga to the south by helicopter.
Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro said nine people had been brought to the hospital. One person was in critical condition, eight were in stable condition.
Kristin Parlsey, the Greyhound representative, said Greyhound had set up a number for families to call -- 800-884-2744. |
