Texas church bus crash: 12 killed, 3 injured in collision with pickup truck

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At least 12 people were killed and three others injured in a head-on crash Wednesday between a church bus and pickup truck in southwest Texas, officials said.
Sgt. Conrad Hein of the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed the death toll to the Associated Press, adding that the collision happened around 12:30 p.m. local time on U.S. 83 outside Garner State Park, located about 75 miles west of San Antonio.
Hein said he does not know if the lone occupant of the pickup truck is among the dead, or how many of the dead were among the 14 people aboard the church van.
Photographs and video from the scene showed heavy damage to the front drivers’ sides of the small white bus and pickup truck, which are the portions of the vehicles where they appear to have collided.
The back of the bus was up on a guardrail and debris was scattered onto the grass below.
Rick Ballesteros of Uvalde, who came upon the scene of the accident, told KABB/WOAI-TV the church bus was carrying older passengers.
“It was a really gruesome scene,” he said in a phone interview.
An area resident told the Uvalde Leader-News she was behind one of the vehicles involved in the crash, and had contacted law enforcement to report reckless driving. Before help arrived, she had the crash took place.
The First Baptist New Braunfels church located in New Braunfels, Texas, asked for those to “please be in prayer for all involved” in a series of statements on its Facebook page
Pastor Brad McLean addressed members of the media Wednesday night as the congregation gathered at the church for prayer and support, KABB/WOAI-TV reported
“As a church, we’re waiting for some official news from authorities before we can speak to anything,” McLean said.
The church needs prayer more than anything else during this time, according to McLean, and members of the church gathered to do “what church families do.”
“They’re coming together, they’re crying together, praying together and of course there’s anxiousness as to who was on the bus and what their condition is,” McLean said.
“You never know what the day is going to bring,” he added. “The Lord tells us that we have today, tomorrow is not promised.”
The Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office said that Highway 83 North is closed South of Garner State Park, and will be closed for several hours.
The Uvalde County Fire Marshals told KABB/WOAI-TV DPS and EMS units, as well as Airlife, were on the scene.
A representative from Airlife said two people were transported to University Hospital.
“We are saddened by the loss of life and our hearts go out to all those affected,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. “We thank the first responders working on the scene in the wake of this unimaginable tragedy, and ask that all Texans join us in offering their thoughts and prayers.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a tweet Wednesday night, “The NTSB is investigating today’s highway accident in Concan, Texas.”
Hein said the small bus was a 2004 Turtle Top, though he did not know the specific model. Turtle Top’s website features shuttle buses with capacities ranging from 17 to 51 passengers, which they bill as “a great alternative to the standard 15-passenger van.”
Safety concerns have long surrounded the 15-passenger vans, also frequently used by churches and other groups, with advocates saying they can be difficult to control in an emergency.

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