Passenger: 'Not a safe feeling' before fatal Sherman bus crash
08:24 PM CDT on Friday, August 8, 2008
SHERMAN, Texas — A woman heading for a religious festival in Missouri said she had an unsafe feeling as she rode on a bus that crashed on U.S. Highway 75 early this morning.
Leha Nguyen, 45, was one of 55 passengers on a bus that crashed, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more.The bus was one of three buses in a caravan with passengers from two Houston parishes -- Vietnamese Martyrs and Our Lady of Lavang -- on the way to the Marian Days festival, an annual celebration in honor of the Virgin Mary, in Carthage, Mo.
Ms. Nguyen said the bus left Houston around 8:30 p.m. Thursday and passengers were handed sandwiches. She sat four rows behind the driver.
"I feel the bus ride was a little bit fast," Ms. Nguyen said. "Not a safe feeling."
She couldn't say how fast the bus was traveling.
The bus passed Dallas at a quarter to midnight and many of the passengers were getting ready to sleep minutes before the bus left the road, crashed into a guardrail and tipped over.
Ms. Nguyen said she awakened to the sound of panicked voices and found people piled on top of each other inside the bus. She was pressed against the window. She would later find out that the woman sitting next to her had died.
"One lady got her arm really crushed up," Ms. Nguyen said during a news conference at Wilson N. Jones Medical Center this afternoon. "On top of her was another lady -- she could not move."
Ms. Nguyen said she crawled out of the bus and tried to help others before medical personnel convinced her to get treatment for a head wound. She saw workers remove bodies from the bus as her ambulance left the scene.
"I think I'm the luckiest one," she said.
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Map: Intended route of the bus
Graphic: How the accident happened
Phone numbers: Where to call to offer help or get information
- To make donations of goods or money to the Salvation Army, call the Dallas office, 214-637-8100, or the Sherman office, 903-868-9602.
- To donate blood or get passenger information, call 1-800-RED-CROSS.
- Crash victims who are trying to recover belongings lost in the wreckage can call the Sherman Police Department at 903-217-7651.
The Vietnamese community from Houston to Dallas reeled from shock and sadness as families learned about the fate of loved ones.
"Please pray for us," said Holly Nguyen, a 38-year-old church member who was following the bus in a car but didn't see the wreck. She was anxiously waiting for word on whether her father was dead or injured.
Passengers were sent to medical centers around the area, including Durant, Okla., Dallas, McKinney, Sherman, Denison and Allen, and many remained hospitalized this afternoon
Some passengers had been thrown from the bus while others were trapped inside after the bus crashed about 12:45 a.m. Some passers-by tried to help the victims, while other passengers tried to save each other.
Bryan Lam, 42, who lives in the Houston area, said his two sisters and mom were on the bus and that his sister Lien Do tried to administer CPR to their mom, Xuanhoa Dang, 59. But she wasn’t able to save her.
His sister, Lien Do, 24, was treated and released from a McKinney hospital. "She is OK," he said. "But she just found out her mother passed away." His other sister remained hospitalized with a laceration to her head.
Tien Nguyen of Houston drove to Sherman after hearing about the crash on the television this morning and learning from his family that five relatives were on the bus. He went to the Sherman hospital, which had received the largest number of accident patients. He found two family members there and learned the location of a third but was unable to find the names of two other relatives on any hospital patient lists being circulated by officials.
He said the accident has affected the tight-knit Vietnamese Catholic community.
“Everybody knows everybody,” he said.
He said the trip was an event the church participated in every year.
The Marian Days pilgrimage, which started in the late 1970s in southwest Missouri, attracts thousands of Catholic Vietnamese Americans each year. Many celebrate a large outdoor Mass each day while enjoying entertainment and camping throughout the city at night.
The news of the accident, however, cast a shadow over the event, which began Thursday and ends Sunday.
Thai Dinh, a reporter with Houston-based Little Saigon Radio and Hon Viet television, said news reached the camp about 5 a.m.
“The father woke them up and informed them about the news,” said Mr. Dinh, who was on scene in Missouri reporting on the gathering. “The people were very sad about it. They got together to pray for the dead early in the morning.”
Vien Van, account manager with Weekly Classified Ads, a publication that serves the Vietnamese community in the Houston area, said he attends the Martyrs church on occasion.
“It’s going to hit the community as a whole, not just the church, because we are all united,” Mr. Van said.
Bishop James V. Johnston Jr., of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in Missouri, said in a written statement: "Our Church is profoundly saddened by this tragic accident. Our deepest sympathies go out to all of those who were killed or injured and to their families.”
The American Red Cross has set up a respite center at St. Patrick’s Church in the 400 block of North Rusk in Denison for family members traveling from the Houston area.
Mr. Lam said he was trying to be strong for his family. "I am trying to stay calm," he said. "I am the only calm one. My wife and sisters aren't functioning right now."
Staff writer Tanya Eiserer and Ian Hamilton and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Marian Days: Wikipedia article
The Marian Days (Vietnamese: Đại Hội Thánh Mẫu, officially Ngày Thánh Mẫu) is the main festival and pilgrimage for Vietnamese American Roman Catholics, celebrated since 1978 on the 28-acre campus of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix in Carthage, Missouri. Vietnamese Americans from many parts of the United States, as well as non-Vietnamese locals and some visitors from Vietnam, attend the event.
The celebration is held during the summer in honor of the Virgin Mary and is highlighted by a large, outdoor Mass each day. The Marian Days offer opportunities for Reconciliation and prayer. Mass is presided by many priests and religious.
Pilgrims turn the surrounding area into a large campground, as many nearby residents allow pilgrims to erect tents on their lawns. Although the celebrations are centered around liturgy, they also feature a number of other events. Dioceses with large Vietnamese populations set up large tents to sell traditional Vietnamese food. Other organizations, such as the Knights of Columbus, also serve food to pilgrims in tents. Each night, singers entertain the large crowds with both folk and popular Vietnamese music.
At the end of the festivities, two long firecrackers are lit, followed by a large release of blue and white balloons tied to two flags. The flags fly off into the distance; addresses are written on them, so that whoever finds the flags can return them.
In 2008, 17 pilgrims died in a bus crash en route from Houston to Carthage.
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