66 injured in bus crash as raging forest fires destroy 220 homes

A BUS returning from a family reunion crashed in southern Kentucky yesterday, killing one person and injuring 66 others, officials said.

Four people suffered critical injuries, said the director of emergency medical services at The Medical Center in Bowling Green, Randy Fathbruckner.

The bus was rented by a family returning to Alabama from a reunion in New York, said Clarence Williams, president of C & R Tours. Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby said the crash happened about 4.20am. Children’s luggage was scattered around the bus, which was crushed in the front against a overpass.

The bus crashed about 75 miles north of Nashville, Tennessee, Kentucky State Police dispatcher Daniel Priddy said.

What caused it wasn’t clear; authorities did not immediately release other details.

Both ambulances and helicopters responded to the scene.

Two adults and two children were flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Fathbruckner said. Fifty-two of the injuries were considered urgent and 10 were considered minor, Fathbruckner said.

Meanwhile, firefighters launched an aggressive attack yesterday to corral a raging forest fire that has destroyed at least 220 homes and forced about 1,000 people to evacuate near the Lake Tahoe resort area in California.

The fire, believed to be caused by human activity, charred nearly 2,500 acres (nearly four square miles) near the south end of the lake since it started Sunday afternoon. No injuries were reported.

It was less than 10% contained yesterday morning, said Lieutenant Kevin House of El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department.

“This is far and above the biggest disaster that has happened in this community, I don’t know, probably in forever,” Lt House said.

Flames came within a quarter of a mile of the 1,500-student South Tahoe High School during the night, and dozens of firefighters surrounded the school. A few miles south, hundreds of homes in Meyers were evacuated, authorities said.

US Forest Service spokesman Rex Norman said: “The fire is pretty much staying in the same place right now. But that could change if the winds change.”