TALLULAH, La. (AP) -- A church bus driver told authorities he fell asleep in the moments before slamming into a parked tractor-trailer, killing eight senior citizens and injuring seven others, police said.
The driver, taking the seniors on a tour of historic sites, survived the wreck and spoke with investigators after the Monday morning crash, state police said. He told them that someone on the bus yelled, awakening him just before impact with the tractor-trailer hauling cotton, state police Trooper Julie Lewis said.
Fifteen people were aboard when the bus crashed on Interstate 20 in northeastern Louisiana. The cotton truck driver, who had pulled onto the shoulder to check his brakes, suffered minor head and neck injuries.
In the tiny West Texas town of El Dorado, a piece of paper taped to the office door at the First Baptist Church where the victims belonged delivered the solemn news. The names of six people were typed; two were later added in pencil.
The list included two retired oil workers, a retired nurse and a church nursery worker.
``It's a horrible, horrible loss for all of us, especially here at the church,'' said member Corrine Hext, 80. ``To lose these people, it's like losing one of your family. It's sad and it's going to effect El Dorado for a long, long time.''
The thirteen passengers and two drivers were headed toward Vicksburg, Miss., on the second day of what was to have been a 16-day trip sponsored by their church, Lewis said.
The ``senior ambassador tour'' was to include visits to a Mercedes-Benz factory in Alabama, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn., and the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pa. Lewis said each passenger paid $960 for the trip.
``This is a real active group _ they have lots and lots of active members,'' said Carolyn Mayo, Eldorado city secretary, adding that the group usually takes two trips each year.
Lewis said the injured were taken to several hospitals in Mississippi and Louisiana, and at least one was hurt critically. The bus driver, Kenneth J. Thomas, 66, of Eldorado, suffered moderate injuries.
The bus and the truck remained upright on the side of the road after the crash, but the front end of the bus was demolished _ pushed up under the rear of the 18-wheeler's trailer. Bales of cotton, seats from the bus, pillows and clothing littered the highway.
Emergency crews said some of the passengers were thrown partly out of the open side of the bus.
Authorities identified those killed as Kennith Richardson, Betty A. Richardson, Delia Pina, Domingo Pina and Mary Ruth Robinson, all of Eldorado; Jean S. Demere and Jimmy D. Teel, both of Water Valley; and Laverne Shannon, of San Angelo.
Associated Press writer Betsy Blaney in Eldorado, Texas, contributed to this report.
