Five people were killed and five others injured when an 18-wheeler truck collided with a passenger bus in Arkansas on Monday, authorities say.
The crash occurred at 2.45pm as a bus transporting adult students from the C.B. King Memorial School attempted to turn on an intersection of the US 65 Highway in Chicot County, according to a preliminary report from the Arkansas State Police.
Driver Susan Kennedy, 47, was turning across southbound lanes of the highway when the vehicle was struck by a Freightliner tractor-trailer, the report stated.
After the impact, the two vehicles careened down the highway before coming to a stop.
The five victims were connected to the C.B. King Memorial School which provides special education services for adults in the city of McGehee.
Police said the names of the victims were: Tommy Figures, 50, of Dermott; Brayshawn Ranson, 19, of Dermott; Geraldine Prewitt, 73, of McGehee; Terry King, 56, of Dermott; and Regina Jackson, 65, of Dermott.
In a statement to local Fox affiliate KNWA, C.B. King Director of Programs Lora Medina said: “Our C B King Family is hurting tonight. We don’t have the words right now to express our pain.
“The Adult Center in Arkansas City will be closed for now as we process what has happened.”
State police investigators say the injured were taken to a local hospital.
Developing story: More to come
