LAREDO, Texas – Federal investigators and local authorities worked Monday to determine what caused a charter bus to crash in far South Texas, killing eight people and injuring 44 others in a one-vehicle rollover.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived Sunday in Laredo. The agency will look at the operations of the charter bus company as part of its investigation, and it has requested inspection and maintenance records and examined the bus and the scene, spokesman Keith Holloway said.
Meanwhile, a Texas trooper said Sunday that the state Department of Public Safety is conducting an investigation separate from the NTSB.
Sgt. Johnny Hernandez said the bus driver remains hospitalized with major injuries and has not yet been interviewed by police.
Webb County spokesman Larry Sanchez tells the Laredo Morning Times seven people died at the scene on U.S. Highway 83 north of Laredo. An eighth person died later at a hospital.
Webb County Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ricardo Rangel says the bus, identified as belonging to OGA Charters, originated in the Rio Grande Valley and was headed to a casino in Eagle Pass, about 125 miles northwest of Laredo. The bus company is based in San Juan in Hidalgo County.
The fire department described it as a one-vehicle rollover. Firefighters received the call late Saturday morning. By late afternoon, the highway at the scene remained closed.