First lawsuit filed in bus crash

The first lawsuit in connection with Friday's bus crash that killed 17 people headed for the Marian Days observance in Carthage has been filed:

A man whose wife was injured and whose mother-in-law and sister-in-law were killed in a bus crash near Sherman last week sued the bus manufacturer, owner and driver Wednesday in state district court.

Lau Pham, who was not on the bus, was too distraught to appear at a news conference Wednesday at the Harris County Civil Courthouse to announce the filing, a family supporter said.

His son, Peter Pham, said the accident has shattered his family.

"We want to know how can this happen," Peter Pham said. "We want to find out the truth."

State District Judge John T. Wooldridge granted a request included in the suit that prevents the bus or other evidence — including a blown front tire suspected as the cause of the accident — from being altered until Pham's attorneys and their accident experts can investigate them.

"The physical evidence, the bus, the tire tell a story," said Rob Ammons, Lau Pham's attorney. "It's going to tell us what happened in the crash."

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 25.