Seven individuals who lost their lives in a tragic bus accident in Mississippi over the weekend were revealed to all be from Mexico, as confirmed by the Mississippi Highway Patrol on Tuesday when they disclosed the victims’ names and ages. The deceased were identified as Miguel Arriaga, 61; Victor A. Garcia, 32; Moises A. Garcia, 31; Kain Gutierrez, 8; Perla Gutierrez, 16; Elia Guzman, 63; and Angelica Palomino, 16. Specific details regarding their hometowns were not provided by the patrol.
Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey stated that Kain Gutierrez and Perla Gutierrez were siblings.
Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, extended sympathies to the families of the victims and offered consular support.
The fatal crash that also left around 36 others injured is currently being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), along with the state highway patrol and the Mississippi Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division.
The bus involved in the incident was a 2018 Volvo operated by Autobuses Regiomontanos, a company with offices in Mexico and Texas. The bus, carrying 41 passengers and two drivers, was en route from Atlanta to Dallas when it experienced a left front tire failure in Bovina, near Vicksburg, Mississippi, resulting in the vehicle overturning onto its left side.
NTSB member Todd Inman reported that no other vehicles were implicated in the crash, which claimed the lives of six people on the scene with an additional fatality occurring at a hospital. Those injured were promptly transported to hospitals by ambulance.
The investigation will scrutinize various aspects including the bus’s maintenance, road conditions, driver’s experience, carrier’s safety history, and safety measures for passengers, Inman stated. A preliminary report is anticipated within 30 days, while a comprehensive investigation might span up to two years according to the NTSB.
Autobuses Regiomontanos claims two decades of expertise in facilitating cross-border trips between 100 locations in Mexico and the U.S. Their website highlights a contemporary bus fleet receiving daily upkeep, coupled with discounted trips for workers.
