(Matthew Hinton/The Advocate)
Updated 19 mins ago
LAPLACE, LA -- A bus full of construction workers hit a firetruck on an elevated highway Sunday, killing two people and injuring 36, several of them seriously, Louisiana State Police said.
The ladder truck from St. John the Baptist Parish, west of New Orleans, had parked across the right lane of Interstate 10 to block traffic while police investigated an earlier wreck involving a pickup truck that had skidded on the wet road, crashing into both guardrails about 6:40 a.m., Trooper Melissa Matey said.
The 2002 Eldorado National party bus hit the fire truck and then rear-ended a 2012 Toyota Camry, pushing it into a flatbed trailer being towed by a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado, Matey said. She said the bus then veered behind the fire truck and into the first pickup truck, a 2005 Nissan Titan. It also knocked three firefighters, who were standing near the guard rail, into the water 30 to 40 feet below.
Matey said the wreck killed Jermaine Starr, 21, of Moss Point, Mississippi, a back-seat passenger in the Camry, and St. John the Baptist Parish district Fire Chief Spencer Chauvin. The injured included the other two firefighters, the bus driver, 24 bus passengers and a total of nine people in the car and pickups.
Firefighter Nicholas Saale, 32, of Ponchatoula, and Camry passenger Vontravous Kelly of Moss Point, Mississippi, are in critical condition, she said. The Camry's other two occupants, driver Marcus Tate, 35, and David Jones, both of Moss Point, are in serious condition.
Other injuries - including the Titan's two occupants, who suffered minor injuries in the original crash - ranged from minor to moderate, Matey said.
The bus driver, identified as Denis Yasmir Amaya Rodriguez, 37, of Honduras, will be arrested on two counts of negligent homicide and one each of reckless driving and driving without a license, she said.
"Additional criminal charges are forthcoming," she said.
The injured were taken to hospitals in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Hammond and LaPlace, she said.
Matey said the bus was taking flood recovery workers from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.
It belonged to a company with two names: AM Party Bus and Kristina's Transportation LLC, both at the same address in Jefferson, about 30 miles from New Orleans in Jefferson Parish, Matey said.
No listing in Jefferson was available. A call to Kristina's Transportation in Destrehan, 12 miles from Jefferson in St. Charles Parish, was not answered Sunday. A woman who answered the phone at AM Party Bus of New Orleans said she was only authorized to take booking calls.
Matey did not know whether Rodriguez was an employee of that company, or whether the company checked to see whether he had a driver's license.
"He is in this country illegally from Honduras. He has no driver's license. He had minor injuries," she said.
Matey did not know where in Honduras Rodriguez is from.
Department of Homeland Security investigators and state police are checking on the passengers' immigration status, she said.
Matey said speed was a factor in both the crash of the Titan, which bounced from one guard rail to the other about 6:40 a.m., and that of the bus at 7:17 a.m.
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FIREFIGHTER STRUCK & KILLED, OTHERS INJURED ON I-10 IN LOUISIANA
August 28, 2016
We regret to pass on to you that a District Fire Chief of St Johns The Baptist (NW of New Orleans, Louisiana) Fire Department was killed in the Line of Duty this morning. District Fire Chief Spencer Chauvin with the St. John the Baptist Fire Department, was pronounced dead at River Parishes Hospital after being struck at the scene of a previous crash on I-10.
WHAT HAPPENED:
St. John the Baptist Firefighters responded to the initial crash involving a pickup truck which came to rest in the right shoulder of I-10.
As Firefighters were working on closing the roadway, a west-bound charter bus lost control for unknown reasons and struck fire apparatus on the scene.
Afterwards, the bus struck three firefighters, throwing them from the elevated portion of the interstate over the guard rail and into the water below.
—The other two Firefighters survived but are hospitalized. 41 patients were transported from the scene, 5 by medical helicopter and 36 by ground ambulance.
—Louisiana State police say that driver of the bus had no driver’s license nor a license to operate a commercial vehicle.
More to follow. Our condolences to all those affected.
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3 FIREFIGHTER LINE OF DUTY DEATHS UPDATES (MN/MI & LA)
August 28, 2016
A bad couple of days for Firefighters on the roadways-here are some updates:
MINNESOTA
In Minnesota yesterday, 25-year-old Beartown Michigan Firefighter Alan Swartz and 23-year-old Firefighter James Shelifoe, both of of Baraga, Michigan, were killed when the fire transport truck they were in went off I-35W around 1500 yesterday. The vehicle hit a cable barrier, bounced off and rolled several times.
A total of 9 Firefighters were in the truck. Swartz and Shelifoe died, and several others were injured, some severely. They were responding to help fight the Box Canyon fire, which so far has burned around 4,000 acres in Utah. RIP.
LOUISIANA
In Louisiana this morning, Firefighters, State Police troopers and citizens climbed over a guardrail, down 30 feet into alligator infested canal waters to rescue 3 St. John the Baptist Parish firefighters thrown from an Interstate 10 bridge after they were hit by a party bus-driven by an illegal immigrant this morning. Charges pending against bus driver who slammed into 3 Firefighters, throwing them over the bridge and into the water below.
One of the firefighters, St. John Fire District Chief Spencer Chauvin, 36, was killed in the Line of Duty. Firefighters William “Mack” Beal and Nick Saale were were also taken to a local hospital. FF Saale was still hospitalized in stable condition this evening and FF Beal was released after treatment for minor injuries.
Denis Yasmir Amaya Rodriguez, 37, of Honduras, the bus driver accused of plowing into the Firefighters, has no driver’s license and entered the country illegally and criminal charges are pending.
The LODD was the result of a 2nd crash. The first occurred about 0640 hours when a pick-up truck headed westbound on I-10 and traveling too fast for the slick roadway hit the left guardrail. The truck bounced across to the other guardrail and came to a stop in the right lane and shoulder of the bridge. State Police troopers and St. John fire crews responded to the scene to assist and shut down the interstate, blocking the highway with a ladder truck.
Around 0717 hours, Rodriguez was headed westbound in the left lane of I-10 when for an unknown reason, Rodriguez’s bus was also out of control and hit the fire truck blocking I-10. The bus then crossed into the right lane of the highway and hit the Firefighters, including Chief Chauvin, who were standing between a State Police patrol car and the truck involved in the first crash. All three firemen were thrown over the side of the guardrail, into the water below.
The bus also hit another unidentified vehicle. The second person killed in the crash was a passenger in that vehicle.
About 30 to 42 passengers on the party bus suffered minor injuries. They were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
Chief Chauvin was married with two small children had been a career Firefighter with the parish since 2004. RIP.