Two dead and dozens injured after charter bus carrying people to a casino overturns on Texas highway

By Associated Press Reporter

PUBLISHED: 11:38 EST, 11 April 2013 | UPDATED: 14:37 EST, 11 April 2013

At least two people were killed and about three dozen were hospitalized after a charter bus careened off a Texas highway and flipped onto its side Thursday, drawing a large emergency response as rescue crews struggled to reach victims inside, authorities said.

The Cardinal Coach Line bus was traveling just east of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Irving when it suddenly weaved across the busy highway, struck a concrete barrier and toppled over into the center median, witnesses said. The cause of the accident was not immediately clear.

'We ended up swirling and weaving and then ended up on the side,' passenger Daniel Risik, 73, told The Dallas Morning News. 'People were screaming and hollering, a very traumatic situation to say the least.'

Scroll down for video

Tragedy: At least two people are dead and several injured after a chartered bus overturned

Rescue: First responders work to pull people out of the overturned bus

First responders tend to a patient on the scene of a Cardinal Coach Line charter bus accident on Hwy. 161 near N. Beltline Rd. in Irving, Texas

The bus, which was carrying about 45 people, was headed to a casino in Oklahoma, officials said. Risik said most people aboard the bus weren't wearing seat belts.

'People were piled on top of each other,' he said. 'It was unbelievable. A lady had pinned me. Rescue got there and started pulling people out of a roof emergency hatch. People were hollering, screaming, there was blood all over the place. It was unbelievable.'

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Lonny Haschel confirmed that two people were killed. About three dozen people were being treated at local hospitals, many of them suffering from fractured bones, hospital officials said.

Emergency vehicles could be seen swarming the bus as it lay in the grassy center median along the President George Bush Turnpike. Ladders were being used to pull passengers from some broken windows. Witnesses said one person appeared to be pinned by the bus which picked up passengers in Fort Worth.

Chaos: 'People were screaming, on top of each other,' Dan Risik, who identified himself as a passenger on the bus, told NBC affiliate KXAS

The bus tipped on its side in the center median along State Highway 161 just east of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Irving, trapping dozens of passengers inside

Aerials: At least two killed in Dallas bus crash

A man who answered the phone at Cardinal Coach's offices in Mansfield, just south of Dallas, confirmed that one of the company's buses was involved in the Irving accident. But said he didn't have time to talk because he was trying to gather information about the crash.

Cardinal Coach has reported no crashes in the last two years that resulted in deaths or injuries, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The company operates five buses and employs seven drivers, records show.

Law enforcement officers were interviewing bus passengers and other drivers who witnessed the crash. Haschel said he had no immediate information on where the bus trip originated.

Emergency vehicles could be seen swarming the bus as it lay in the grassy center median along the President George Bush Turnpike.

About three dozen people were being treated at local hospitals, many of them suffering from fractured bones, hospital officials said.

The Cardinal Coach Line bus was traveling just east of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Irving when it suddenly weaved across the busy highway, struck a concrete barrier and toppled over into the center median, witnesses said

A spokeswoman for Baylor Medical Center in Irving said 13 patients arrived at the hospital following the accident. Officials at Las Colinas Medical Center in Irving confirmed another six patients were there, though details weren't immediately available on their conditions.

Another 11 patients were transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital, including the driver of the bus, and another victim was airlifted to a fourth hospital in critical condition, hospital officials said.

Public transportation buses with Dallas Area Rapid Transit were used to transport some passengers with lesser injuries.