What we know about the wreck of a charter bus full of USC students headed to New Orleans
A bus loaded with University of South Carolina students crashed in Mississippi on Friday, injuring nearly a dozen people and halting traffic.
Details are still coming about the wreck, but here’s what we know so far.
Passengers
There have been no reports of fatalities.
- There were 56 USC students aboard the charter bus, according to Mississippi Highway Patrol Trooper Cal Robertson. The students were traveling to New Orleans. The students were members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. A member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, who answered the phone of Joshua Moorehead, president of the fraternity, said on Friday that the organization declined to comment.
- Of the students, 10 were injured. The driver of the bus was injured after she was ejected through the windshield.
- Two of the victims, one of which was the driver, were airlifted by helicopter to a hospital.
- Nine students were taken to hospitals by ambulance, Robertson said.
When the driver was ejected, USC student Paul Clune jumped up out of his seat and grabbed the steering column to stop the bus before it rolled rolling over, Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz said.
The crash
- The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. in the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 and Highway 603, about 13 miles from the Louisiana state line, the Mississippi Department of Transportation states.
- It was a single vehicle crash.
- Officials believe the crash was caused by mechanical failure. The bus hit a divider on I-10.
- The bus was a Dixon Motor Express charter.
What we don’t yet know
- Who was driving the bus for the students?
- Who chartered the bus?
- Why were the students going to New Orleans?
- Will the uninjured students continue on to New Orleans or return home?
This story was originally published April 5, 2024 at 7:37 PM.
Patrick McCreless
The State