AP: Thirteen killed in accident heading toward Marian Days celebration in Carthage

Associated Press reports 13 people killed in a Texas bus crash were headed toward the annual Marian Days observance in Carthage:

A charter bus carrying Vietnamese worshipers on a pilgrimage to Marian Days in Carthage ran off an highway overpass north of Dallas and crashed in flames on a roadway below, killing at least 13 people and sending at least 24 to hospitals.


The bus smashed into a guard rail at about 12:45 a.m. on a bridge that’s about 15 feet above a creek, apparently skidding along the guard rail before sliding off U.S. 75 just the other side of the bridge.

It came to a rest on its right side in the northbound lane of an access road. Workers righted the bus early Friday — revealing a crumpled and burnt-out right side — and were loading it onto a large flatbed truck. Other workers were cleaning debris and gathering luggage, shopping bags and scattered pieces of clothing.

The bus carrying 55 people from Houston to Missouri may have blown a tire, but officials were still investigating.