Early Saturday morning, a passenger bus traveling west on Interstate 20 in Warren County, Mississippi, veered off the road and overturned, resulting in a tragic accident. According to the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the crash claimed the lives of seven people, including a 6-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister, and left 36 others injured.
Authorities responded to the scene at 12:40 a.m. and confirmed that the bus, traveling from Atlanta to Dallas, was the only vehicle involved in the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that a “tire failure” occurred prior to the crash, but the exact cause remains under investigation.
Six victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and another succumbed to injuries at a nearby hospital. All seven fatalities were identified as passengers from Guatemala. However, their names have not been publicly released pending notification of their families.
The remaining 36 passengers were transported to local hospitals with injuries of varying severity. Initially, authorities reported 37 injuries, but this figure was later revised. The bus manifest listed 41 passengers on board, although it did not include two drivers who were also on the bus.
The bus, a 2018 Volvo model, is registered to Regiomontanos Autobuses, a company headquartered in Laredo, Texas, with a location in Atlanta. Federal records reveal a troubling safety history for the company, including one fatal crash, two injury-causing collisions, and a tow-only accident in the past two years. Despite these incidents, the company reported that its buses traveled approximately 2.1 million miles in 2023.
Regiomontanos Autobuses currently holds a “conditional” federal safety rating, indicating that it has undergone a compliance review due to potential safety violations or complaints. Attempts to contact the company for comment were unsuccessful, with a representative stating media inquiries should be made at a later time.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol and its Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division are investigating the crash, with support from the NTSB, which has dispatched a team to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
This tragic accident highlights ongoing concerns about passenger safety and regulatory compliance in the commercial transportation industry. Investigators will continue working to determine the exact cause and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
