Two dead, 21 injured in bus rollover in Minnesota
AUSTIN, Minn. (MCT) — Two people are dead and 21 injured in a rollover accident of a tour bus Wednesday near Austin, Minn., according to the Minnesota State Patrol.
The accident took place about 2 miles from Austin.
“It’s truly tragic because every person on the bus was either injured or killed,” said Andy Skoogman, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, who added that the group from a casino just south of the Minnesota-Iowa border.
The driver of the bus was taken to Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn. Others were taken to hospitals in Austin and Albert Lea, Minn.
KAAL-TV reported that eyewitnesses, who spoke to the bus driver, said the bus was going eastbound when it crossed into the westbound lanes and went into a ditch, where it rolled over.
According to Skoogman, the bus was heading east on Interstate 90 near Austin when it crossed the media into the westbound lanes. It ended up in a ditch where it flipped over, landing with the door side down.
There was no construction going on in the area of the accident and weather was not a factor, Skoogman said, adding that several cars in the westbound lanes got out of the way of the bus.
The bus company’s owner, Dalmar Strain, said the bus was headed back from the Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa.
“I’m just beside myself,” said Strain, on his way to the scene of the accident. “I don’t know what happened.”
Strain said he routed the trip for the veteran driver and was surprised to hear the bus was on Interstate 90. “Why he came across this way, I have no idea.”
Strain said the trip was almost canceled but that eight or nine people called in at the last minute saying they wanted to go.
He said the driver was in his 50s and had worked for the company when it was focused on school bus trips. He also has experience driving semitrailer trucks and working with heavy machinery.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Strain Tours has reported no crashes in the past 24 months. The company has four buses and six drivers, according to agency records.
