Monday: A church bus from the First Baptist Church of Eldorado, Texas and an 18-wheeler collided west of Tallulah, La.
TALLULAH, La. — A church bus taking senior citizens (search) on a tour of historical sites slammed into a cotton-hauling tractor-trailer on the shoulder of a highway Monday, killing eight people and injuring seven others, state police said.
The bus driver survived the wreck and told investigators he fell asleep at the wheel before crashing into the truck, authorities said. Someone on the bus yelled, awakening him just before impact, said Trooper Julie Lewis.
Fifteen people were on the bus when it crashed around 11 a.m. on Interstate 20 in northeastern Louisiana. The truck driver, who had pulled onto the shoulder to check his brakes, suffered minor head and neck injuries.
Thirteen passengers and two drivers were headed toward Vicksburg, Miss., on the second day of what was to have been a 16-day trip sponsored by their Baptist church in Texas, state police trooper Julie Lewis said....