Texas Bus Crash: 8 Dead, 40-Plus Injured In Charter Bus Rollover [UPDATED]

LAREDO, TX -- Webb County officials have released the names of the eight people who died in a charter bus rollover accident this past Saturday near Laredo.

The victims range in ages from age 52 to 81. Webb County Judge Tano E. Tijerina sent the list of names to Patch after a media request for the information.

The rollover Saturday morning involved a charter bus filled with more than 50 people headed to the Kickapoo Casino for a weekend of recreation. Eight people died and more than 40 were injured.

The victims who died in the crash are:

Maria de Jesus Musquiz, 52

• Frances Guerrero, 52
• Maria de Jesus Musquiz, 52
• Adelfa Garza, 63
• Marisela Lopez, 60
• Jaime Navarro, 60
• Altagracia Torres, 61
• Dora Nelly Gonzalez, 68
• Emma Rodriguez Zamudio, 81

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From May 14:

LAREDO, TX -- A charter bus in South Texas rolled over Saturday on North U.S. 83 in Webb County, killing eight people and injuring more than 40 others, according to the county's sheriff's office.

The Texas Department of Public Safety is handling the investigation into the crash, and the National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to investigate, too.

"I extend my heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of the individuals who lost their lives and those who were injured in this tragic accident," Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar said in a Facebook post from the department.

By Saturday evening, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also issued a statement on the tragedy, conveying his condolences along those of Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott.

"Cecilia and I extend our deepest condolences to those affected by the tragic accident in South Texas today," Abbott said. "I ask the entire State of Texas to keep the families of loved ones lost today, as well as the Webb County community, in its thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”

The bus rolled over around 11:45 a.m. local time, according to Reuters, citing Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Conrad Hein. The bus was carrying 52 passengers, he added.

Seven of the eight people who died were pronounced dead on scene, and the other died in a hospital, Hein told Reuters. In all, 44 people were injured, some in critical condition, Hein said.

A spokesperson for La Joya ISD told reporters told local media outlets some employees from the school district were among the passengers on the doomed bus. A spokesman for the La Joya American Federation of Teachers told news outlets at least five of passengers work at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Peñitas -- a city of just over 4,300 residents located near McAllen -- including a counselor and two clerks.

School counselor Marta Villarreal sustained a broken hip while clerk Rosemary Bernal suffered broken rib, the spokesman said. Another district employee, Natalie Alaniz, was hospitalized in stable condition.

One of the district employees didn't make it, spokesman Juan Luna of the American Federation of Teachers said: "We lost a cafeteria worker," he told the McAllen Monitor newspaper. "I think she was the eighth one that passed away."

First responders were called to the scene of the accident on U.S. 83 near Galvan Road, some eight miles north of the Border Patrol checkpoint, Laredo the Morning Times reported.

The OGA Charters bus originating from the Rio Grande Valley headed to the Kickapoo Casino Hotel in Eagle Pass, the Morning Times reported.

North U.S. 83 was back open Saturday afternoon after it was closed because of the crash. There is no word yet as to what may have caused the bus to roll over.

Here are some telephone numbers people can call to check on the condition of family members:

• Doctors Hospital: (956) 523-2000
• Dimmit Regional Hospital: (830) 876-2424
• Laredo Medical Center: (956) 796-5000

Saturday's crash is among the deadliest bus crashes on Texas roadways in recent history.

Last year, two prison guards and eight inmates were killed after the bus they were traveling in made impact with a section of guardrail near Odessa. The collision sent the bus careening 20 feet down from the highway before hitting a freight train below.

And in 2008, 17 died near Sherman when their bus fell off a highway bridge as passengers were headed to a religious retreat in Missouri.

Marc Torrence contributed to this report.