Six people were killed when a charter bus carrying workers crashed into an overpass on Interstate 40 in North Little Rock early Friday morning.
The bus, which was headed to Laredo, Texas, from Monroe, Mich., hit a concrete barrier on the side of the highway about 1 a.m. and then slid 200 to 300 feet before slamming into the North Hills Drive overpass, Arkansas State Police said during a news conference Friday morning.
A contingent of investigators including representatives from state police, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and the Department of Homeland Security are on hand to help investigate, said Bill Bryant, the director of the Arkansas State Police.
Investigators are also planning to work with the Mexican Consulate to help identify victims, Bryant said.
State police identified the bus driver as Roberto Vasquez, 28, of Monroe, Mich.
Vasquez speaks English and was cooperating with investigators, said Maj. Mike Foster of the state Highway Patrol division that responded to the crash.
Foster said the initial investigation has shown that Vasquez is licensed in Michigan, but did not provide details about what type of license he had.
The cause of the wreck remained unclear, though police said drugs and alcohol were not suspected to have played a factor.
16 survivors of Friday's bus crash
Roberto Vasquez, 28, of Arcadia, Fla.
Mercio Reyes, 20 of Texcapa, Hidalgo, Mexico
Eleazar Cruz, 23, of Texcapa, Hidalgo, Mexico
Santos Reyes, 35, of Texcapa, Hidalgo, Mexico
Norberto Alvarez, 29, of Texcapa, Hidalgo, Mexico
Israel Galindo, 32, of Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico
Samuel Cabriales, 43, of Galeana, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Cristina Arzola, 23, of Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, Mexico
Rodolfo Meza Sr., 43, of Lake Placid, Fla.
Rodolfo Meza Jr., 20, of Lake Placid, Fla.
Francisco Ponciano, 23, of Tepehuacán de Guerrero, Hidalgo, Mexico
Miguel Angel Tecuaque, 20, of Tezonapa, Veracruz, Mexico
Margarito Hernandez, 24, of Tezonapa, Veracruz, Mexico
Alejandro Marcos, 19, of Tecapa, Hidalgo, Mexico
Mooises Luis-Velasquez, 21, of Tepehuacán de Guerrero, Hidalgo, Mexico
Julio Cesar (age and city of residence unknown)
Twenty-two people were on board, including the driver. State police identified the 16 survivors in a news release Friday afternoon. Six people injured in the crash were treated in Little Rock and released.
At the start of a scheduled press conference to announce a trade mission to China and Japan, Gov. Asa Hutchinson expressed condolences to the families of the victims, and called the crash a "serious tragedy that bears exploring."
The bus had recently been purchased by Vasquez Citrus and Hauling in Lake Placid, Fla., from Continental Charters in Detroit, according to police and the bus' former owner.
At the time of the crash, the bus still wore the large red lettering of Continental, although the license plate had been switched to Florida.
Jeff Lawson, who identified himself as the owner of Continental Charters in Detroit, said he sold a bus to a man on Saturday who "said he needed a second bus to haul people from [Detroit] to Texas ... and Florida."
Continental Charters did not have any scheduled routes in Arkansas last night and does not regularly operate in the area, he said.
Lawson said the bus he sold is a 1997 Van Hool that was most recently inspected by his company in February or March.
As part of the sale, Lawson said he stipulated the buyer remove the "Continental" lettering from the bus.
"Obviously he never did that part," Lawson said.
Brigette Williams, a spokesman for the American Red Cross in Arkansas, said her agency was on the scene shortly after the wreck, providing support to eight uninjured passengers on the bus. Williams said mental health counseling would be offered to the group, who were put up in a hotel in town by the company they work for.
"As you can imagine, they're pretty shaken up," she said.
The crash for a time blocked westbound I-40. It was fully open and the bus towed from the scene before 6 a.m.
Check back for updates and see Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage.
