Bus That Crashed, Killing 8, Had Seatbelts Only in First Row

Officials investigating a charter bus crash that killed eight people and injured 44 on a rain-slicked South Texas highway said Monday that the vehicle had seat belts only in the first row.


Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Johnny Hernandez said the remaining rows of seats had no lap belts. He said the bus was a 1998 model.
The OGA Charters bus crashed Saturday north of Laredo in rainy conditions. It was en route to a casino in Eagle Pass, about 125 miles northwest of Laredo. No other vehicles were involved.

The 29-year-old bus driver, Porfirio Aguirre Vasquez of Pharr, Texas, was injured in the crash, but later released from a hospital, Hernandez said. Investigators hope to interview the driver and other survivors of the crash this week, said National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway.

He said NTSB, among other things, is trying to determine how the bus company and its vehicles operate. NTSB investigators plan to analyze an electronic device aboard the bus that crashed to determine if it contains data that can provide details on what happened.