— A freight train smashed into a charter bus in a coastal Mississippi city on Tuesday, pushing the bus 300 feet down the tracks and leaving at least four people dead, authorities said. The bus could be seen straddling the tracks, with a CSX Transportation locomotive pushed up against its left side. The bus was apparently stopped on the tracks when the 52-car train, pulled by three locomotives, slammed into it, said Biloxi Police Chief John Miller. “We don’t know if there were mechanical issues or what was taking place.”Miller said passengers on the Echo Transportation bus had come from Austin, Texas, carrying passengers to one of Biloxi’s eight casinos. Ameet Patel, senior vice-president of regional operations for Penn National Gaming, owner of Hollywood Gulf Coast Casino in Bay St. Louis and Boomtown Biloxi Casino, said the bus was travelling from the Hollywood casino to the Boomtown casino at the time of the crash.

Source: National Post March 08, 2017 04:45 UTC