Crash of illegal charter bus in Texas kills 15

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SHERMAN, Texas —
An unlicensed charter bus carrying a Vietnamese-American Catholicgroup on a pilgrimage to a religious festival blew an illegallytreaded tire and skidded off a highway early Friday, killing atleast 15 people and injuring dozens, authorities said.
The bus, en route from Houston to Missouri with 55 people aboard,smashed into a guardrail and tipped over along the edge of the roadat about 12:45 a.m., crushing one side of the vehicle andscattering luggage, clothes, a sandal and a blood-soaked pillowacross the grass and pavement.
Ten people were taken to the hospital by helicopter, and some werein critical condition late Friday.
Passenger Leha Nguyen, 45, said passengers were dozing off when sheheard a noise and screaming, and opened her eyes.
"Somebody was laying on my legs. A lady next to me, she had her armcrushed up. The lady who was on my left, a man was on top of her,"she said at a hospital. She said nobody had been wearing seatbelts, and people were strewn all over. A television had fallen onone person.
"I think I'm the luckiest one out of most people," she said.
Most of the passengers were from the Vietnamese Martyrs Church andtwo other mostly Vietnamese congregations in Houston. They were ontheir way to Carthage, Mo., for an annual open-air festivalhonoring the Virgin Mary.
The Marian Days pilgrimage, begun in the late 1970s, attractsthousands of Catholics of Vietnamese descent and includes a largeoutdoor Mass each day, entertainment and camping at night.
"Please pray for us," said Holly Nguyen, a 38-year-old churchmember who was following behind the bus in a car but did not seethe wreck. She anxiously awaited word of her father, who was on thebus when it ran off the road about 65 miles north of Dallas, closeto the Oklahoma line.
The right front tire, which blew out, had been retreaded inviolation of safety standards, said Debbie Hersman, a member of theNational Transportation Safety board. The tread had separated fromthe tire itself in a process called delamination.
"If there is a loss of pressure or the tire becomes delaminated,it's much more difficult to control the vehicle," she said.
It is legal to retread such tires but not on the axle that steersthe bus, Hersman said. The driver was a 52-year-old who had acommercial license but whose medical certification had expired shesaid.
The driver was reported in stable condition.
The bus operator, Iguala BusMex Inc. of Houston, had applied inJune for a federal license to operate as a charter but was stillawaiting approval, according to online records.
The company recently filed incorporation papers, listing the sameowner and address as Angel Tours Inc., which was forced by federalregulators to take its vehicles out of interstate service June 23after an unsatisfactory review, records show. Details of the reviewwere not in the online records.
Neither entity is currently authorized to operate as a carrier ininterstate commerce, said John H. Hill, administrator for theFederal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
"We have requested law enforcement agencies to be alert for anybuses being operated by Angel Tours or Iguala BusMex, since theyare not authorized to operate legally," he said in a writtenstatement. "If found on the road, we want law enforcement toimmediately stop and place the vehicles out of service."
In a Houston building with a weathered Angel Tours plywood sign, aman declined to identify himself Friday or comment to TheAssociated Press about the wreck. An outgoing phone message atAngel Tours late Friday said the voicemail box was full.