Biloxi Bus Crash Live Updates: Deaths Reported After Train Collides With Vehicle In Mississippi

UPDATE: 6 p.m. EST — The death toll has now risen to four in Tuesday’s collision of a freight train and charter bus that appeared to be stuck on the tracks in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The four were among 43 people on the northbound bus, which had traveled from Austin, Texas. Three people died at the scene and the fourth died later. Two people had to be removed from the wreckage by a Jaws of Life, Incident Cmdr. Joe Boney said. Thirty-five people were hospitalized, several airlifted from the scene.

The CSX train was heading east when it collided with the bus, which had become stuck 5 minutes earlier, witnesses said. A nearby car, which was not involved in the crash, was used as a stepladder to get people off the bus.

The accident was the second in two months involving a train and a vehicle in Biloxi. A Pepsi-Cola delivery truck was hit by a CSX train Jan. 5 when it became stuck on a steep upgrade. The truck driver managed to escape before the impact and called for help.

Ameet Patel, senior vice president of regional operations for Penn National Gaming, owner of Hollywood Gulf Coast Casino and Boomtown Biloxi Casino, said the bus was headed to Boomtown from the Hollywood casino.

All train traffic in the area has been halted.

UPDATE: 4:48 p.m. EST — Amid reports that at least three people were killed in a collision between a charter bus and train in the city, Merit Health hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi has set up a triage area to deal with the flood of injured victims, local newspaper the Sun Herald reported.

"It's very chaotic up there," Biloxi spokesman Vincent Creel said to the paper.

Images from the scene show folks being taken away in stretchers as emergency personnel worked to help the victims. The Associated Press reported that the train struck, then dragged, the bus. Some 50 people were aboard the bus and many reportedly sustained injuries.

UPDATE: 4:32 p.m. EST — Amid reports of at least three deaths from a crash in Biloxi, Mississippi involving a train and a bus, witnesses told local station WLOX that the charter bus appeared to be stuck or stopped on the tracks before it was broadsided.

Images and videos of the incident show a dramatic scene, with dozens of emergency personnel working to help folks surrounding a crumpled bus. The bus reportedly came from Austin, Texas. Reporter Victor Williams of WLOX posted to Twitter that victims had already been air-lifted to the hospital as crews worked to free others from the wreckage.

Original story:

A charter bus and train collided in Biloxi, Mississippi, on Tuesday in a dramatic and deadly crash. The Biloxi police chief said at least three people died in the incident, with dozens more injured, Blake Kaplan, editor of the Biloxi Sun Herald, wrote on Twitter.

There were reportedly 50 people on the bus, and most have sustained injuries. The crash occurred in the early afternoon at about 2:30 p.m. local time, the Sun Herald reported.

The story is developing. Check back for updates.