DPS: 2 dead, several injured after bus crashes into 18-wheeler

HOUSTON – At least two people are dead and around 10 people injured after a crash on I-10 in Weimar, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The crash happened about 12:40 p.m. It involved two 18-wheeler trucks and a commercial bus. Texas DPS said the bus hit the back of an 18-wheeler and caused that truck to hit another 18-wheeler.

Houston resident Susan James was driving home from Hallettsville when she got caught up in the chain reaction crash. 

"When I first got hit, I ducked, put my hands over my head and stayed down," said James, "and I was getting bumped around so I'm sure I was being thrown around the car because it ended up under the flatbed of the truck that hit me." 

James walked away from her crumpled Cadillac SUV without a scratch. 

Both the people who died were on the commercial bus, according to Colorado County Justice of Peace Judge Billy Hefner. The first was the bus driver, 31-year-old Miguel Angel Tobalina-Gonzalez; the second was 34-year-old Roman Juan Domicilio. The bodies were sent to Travis County for autopsies. 

The bus was carrying migrant tobacco workers from Laredo to North Carolina, according to Texas DPS. 

Injured people were transported to two hospitals: the Columbus Community Hospital and the St. Marks Hospital in La Grange.

Interstate 10 eastbound was closed in Weimar for about three hours due to the wreck.

Records show the bus is operated by Turimex, a Laredo-based company that has several Houston locations. 

?The U.S. Department of Transportation gives Turimex a "satisfactory" rating.  In the last two  years, the company has had four crashes with injuries and three without injuries. They have had no crashes with fatalities in the last 24 months. 

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