PENWELL, Texas — Families across Texas are mourning the lives lost when a prison bus sailed off an Interstate 20 overpass and crashed into a passing freight train Wednesday morning. Ten are dead, and the five who were hurt are still recovering.
An investigator's best guess for a cause is ice.
"While the wreck is still under investigation, weather conditions are being considered as a contributing factor," said Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Sgt. Elizabeth Barney.
There was freezing fog and some rain Wednesday morning. Three corrections officers were making their weekly transport from Abilene, carrying 12 minimum security inmates serving time for things like theft, fraud and aggravated assault.
"They go [to Abilene], get processed and get sent out to whatever facility they're assigned, and that particular one happened to be going to El Paso," said Jason Heaton with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The crash occurred at 7:30 a.m. on I-20 west of Odessa. A DPS trooper working another crash nearby witnessed the wreck.
"He said he appeared he had lost control of the bus. He had hit one of the guard rails, came off the roadway, and flew across the embankment, onto the UPS cargo," said DPS trooper Elena Viramontes.
That was one cargo car of many on a passing Union Pacific freight train that the bus hit after leaving the overpass.
No one on the train was hurt. The prisoners, handcuffed in pairs, were not wearing seatbelts.
It's likely the deadliest crash in the history of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
"It's just a sad day for our agency and the families of everybody involved," Heaton said.
Of the dead, two are correctional officers who have more than 15 years' experience each with the Department of Criminal Justice:
- Christopher Davis, 53
- Eligio Garcia, 45
The third surviving officer was in critical condition at a Lubbock hospital.
The dead prisoners were identified as:
- Byron Wilson, 34
- Tyler Townsend, 29
- Jesus Reyna, 44
- Kaleb Wise, 22
- Adolfo Ruiz, 32
- Michael Stewart, 25
- Angel Vasquez, 31
- Jeremiah Rodriguez, 35
The four surviving inmates were in custody and being treated at a Midland Hospital.
