4 dead after freight train slams into bus in Mississippi

(Image credit: iStock)

published 8 March 2017

Officials in Biloxi, Mississippi, said four people were killed and more than 40 injured on Tuesday when a freight train hit a charter bus.

Witnesses told WLOX the bus, carrying passengers from an Austin, Texas, senior center to a casino, was stuck on the tracks when the train slammed into it. A spokesman for the city of Biloxi said there are signs at the crossing that warn of a low ground clearance, but he did not say if that's what caused the bus to stop on the tracks. He also said nine of the injured passengers are in critical condition.

The city has a high number of train crashes for the area, officials said, and the mayor wants to close some of the rail crossings. The site where Tuesday's accident took place was not slated to be closed.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.