Federal Officials Say Damaged Guardrail Caused Texas Prison Bus Wreck
Federal investigators have confirmed that a West Texas prison bus accident that killed two prison guards and eight inmates was caused by the bus striking a piece of displaced highway guardrail.
The National Transportation Safety Board in a report released said the bus lost control Jan. 14, 2015, when it struck the damaged guardrail along a bridge on Interstate 20 west of Odessa.
The bus left the highway, became airborne and fell about 20 feet before striking a Union Pacific freight train that happened to be passing beneath the highway.
Icy road conditions had earlier caused other vehicles to wreck in the area, including one accident that had caused the guardrail to become dislodged.
The NTSB last year released a preliminary finding that the guardrail contributed to the wreck.
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