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Nov 26, 2007 5:07 pm US/Central
Suburban Man Among 3 Dead In Bus Crash
Chicago-To-Dallas Bus Crashed In Eastern Arkansas Sunday
(CBS)
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Raul Lopez, of West Chicago, was one of three people killed when a Chicago-to-Dallas bus crashed in Arkansas Nov. 25.
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Three people died when a bus traveling from Chicago to Dallas crashed with a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer rig in eastern Arkansas on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007.
WREG-TV/CBS
A passenger bus traveling from Chicago to Dallas collided with a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer rig in fog and mist in eastern Arkansas, killing three people.
The Tornado Bus Co. bus was westbound on Interstate 40 about 10 p.m. Sunday when it veered across the median into eastbound lanes. State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said the bus slammed into the oncoming pickup, then the 18-wheeler slammed into the bus, Arkansas State Police said.
Authorities said the pickup's driver Danny Okurily, 40, of Hot Springs, Ark., was killed, as were two bus passengers. Their identities haven't been released.
Bus driver Felix Tapia, 28, of Brownsville, Texas, and tractor-trailer driver David Rice, 45, of Mars Hill, N.C., suffered minor injuries.
Fifty-eight-year-old Raul Lopez of West Chicago was traveling to Mexico to see his ailing mother.
Lopez's wife, four children and five grandchildren learned Sunday night that he died in the accident.
"My mom's not doing very well," said Lopez's daughter, Nelly Lopez. "I'm trying to be the strong one in the family. No one's doing very well. I'm not doing well either."
Chicagoan Irving Reyes was sitting in the 13th row of the bus and was headed to Mexico for the holidays. He was injured but was grateful to walk away.
Sadler said a manifest listed 44 passengers and a driver aboard the bus. At least 15 were injured.
Tornado Bus Co., spokesperson Jennifer Rodriguez said the Dallas-based company had few details on the crash. She said the company began operating in 1993 and had no previous crashes involving its 75 buses.
Tapia was being interviewed by troopers investigating the crash, Sadler said. Other survivors were also being interviewed.
"We are not giving any information in regards to our employee at this point," Rodriguez said.
The accident happened 10 miles east of Forrest City.
Rodriguez says the bus picked up passengers at offices in Chicago and Waukegan.
Arkansas State Police are trying to determine what caused the crash. Arkansas police have not released the name or hometown of the other passenger who died in the crash.
Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the agency was not investigating the crash. He said the agency, with a limited staff, typically focuses on extraordinary accidents that raise safety issues. He noted that the crash apparently occurred when the bus crossed the median.
CBS 2's Joanie Lum in Chicago and the Associated Press in Forrest City, Ark., contributed to this report.
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