A medical bus that became submerged in a ditch during Hurricane Barry was carrying disabled Acadiana residents, according to new information from Iberia Parish Fire District 1.
Eight disabled occupants, including one in a wheelchair, and the bus’s driver were trapped when the bus became submerged in a roadside ditch roughly 10 feet deep and 20 feet wide just before noon Sunday. The entire front of the bus was submerged when Fire Chief Guy Bonin arrived on scene, a district Facebook post said.
The bus belonged to the Arc of Acadiana, a local non-profit that serves Acadiana residents with disabilities. The residents were being moved to a safer location to weather the storm when the crash happened near the National Oilwell Varco facility just off U.S. 90.
Firefighters with Fire District 1 and the Coteau Volunteer Fire Department evacuated the occupants through the bus’s rear window, beginning with the man in the wheelchair, the post said. Rescuers stood in chest-deep water outside the bus and entered the bus to assist the trapped people with the help of three bystanders.
All occupants and the bus driver were rescued within 10 minutes and no serious injuries were reported, the post said.
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