The people killed in a bus crash in Mississippi were from Mexico

BOVINA, Mississippi (AP) — The seven people killed in a weekend bus crash in Mississippi were all from Mexico, the Mississippi Highway Patrol said Tuesday as it released their names and ages.

The department said those killed Saturday were Miguel Arriaga, 61; Victor A. Garcia, 32; Moises A. Garcia, 31; Cain Gutierrez, 8; Perla Gutierrez, 16; Elia Guzman, 63; and Angelica Palomino, 16. The patrol did not release their hometowns.

Kain Gutierrez and Perla Gutierrez were brother and sister, according to Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey.

Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alicia Bárcena, expressed condolences to the families of the dead and offered consular support.

The crash, which also injured three dozen other people, remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, the state highway patrol and the Mississippi Division of Commercial Transportation Enforcement.

The 2018 Volvo bus was operated by Autobuses Regiomontanos, which has sales offices in Mexico and Texas. It was traveling west on Interstate 20 from Atlanta to Dallas with 41 passengers and two drivers.

A front left tire failed early Saturday in Bovina, near Vicksburg, Mississippi. The bus veered onto an embankment and overturned on its left side, NTSB member Todd Inman said Sunday. No other cars were involved in the crash.

Six people were pronounced dead at the scene and another died at a hospital, according to the highway patrol. Thirty-six people were transported by ambulance to hospitals.

Inman said investigators will look at the condition of the vehicle, including how well the tires were maintained. The investigation will also focus on road conditions, the driver’s experience, the carrier’s safety record and what protections were in place for bus occupants, he said.

A preliminary report was expected in 30 days, and the full investigation could take up to two years, the NTSB said.

The transit company says it has 20 years of experience providing cross-border travel between 100 destinations in Mexico and the US. Its website touts “a modern fleet of buses that receives daily maintenance” while also offering “specially priced” rides for workers.

Photo: The damaged bus after the accident. (AP photo)

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