MOSCOW, January 14 (Sputnik) – At least 10 people are dead after a prison bus carrying 12 inmates and three corrections officers slid from an embankment and collided with a passing train at around 7:30 a.m. local time, AP reported.
Officials investigate scene of TDCJ bus/train crash near Penwell. pic.twitter.com/KXJDAiFLvP
— OAphotoEditor (@OAphotoEditor) 14 января 2015
Eight prisoners and two correctional officers were killed as a result of the crash, and four of the victims remain in a critical condition, with another one in a serious condition, according to Reuters.
"It's with a heavy heart that we mourn the loss of those killed and injured this morning in a tragic accident," Brad Livingston, executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told AP.
BREAKING: Prison bus traveling to El Paso crashes near midland, ten confirmed dead. http://t.co/MS3Oiw8QnM pic.twitter.com/qFDVSNlchR
— NewsChannel9 El Paso (@NC9) 14 января 2015
According to a local daily, the Odessa-American, the prisoners were being transported from a prison in Abilene, Texas to a prison in El Paso, Texas.
The Union Pacific freight train that the bus struck stopped shortly after the collision, neither of the two employees on the train were injured, according to AP.
