18 wheeler crashes head on into Grupo Sendor tour bus outside Saltillo Coahuilla
Posted on Mar 17, 2009
in Mexico Today by PMC
The U.S. embassy in Monterrey confirms eight Americans died in a deadly bus crash in north central Mexico. Five Canadians were also killed.
Another 12 U.S. citizens are in the hospital. The Coahuila state police have just released a list of those injured and the hospitals they are in.
Grupo Senda coach number 8003 was enroute to Zacatecas from McAllen Texas when a day cabs tractor driven by Julio César Rodríguez López, age 23, of Saltillo, collided with the coach, killing the driver, César García Huerta, 42 and 13 others, American and Canadian tourists. 12 suffered injuries of various degrees, some requiring life flight to nearby hospitals.
Apparently, the driver of the day cab fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the centerline hitting the bus head on.
At pre dawn hours on Sunday, 25 retired teachers from Canada, the United States and Mexico, left the terminal in McAllen Texas aboard the 2009 Irizia coach owned by Grupo Senda. The final destination was to be Zacatecas.
In the first hours, Gabriel Pérez Díaz, age 37, the assistant driver was behind the wheel while César García Huerta, the senior driver slept in the sleeper compartment of the bus.
About 12:45 in the morning, the coach made a stop outside of Saltillo to give the passengers time to stretch their legs and get a bite to eat. This was also where the drivers changed positions.
Two hours later, the driver of the day cab, Julio César Rodríguez García, who worked for SMCS (Suministros Materiales Construcción y Servicio) was coming north on Hwy 57 from San Luis Potosi. destined for Monterrey, a distance of perhaps 300 miles.
Garcia apparently fell asleep at the wheel, hit the shoulder and overcorrected, causing his day cab tractor to hit the coach in the left front.
Contrary to some reports, Garcia was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time. On scene drug and alcohol test results are pending. Garcia was taken into custody by Federal Highway Police where he will remain pending a Judges decision on what charges to bring if any.
Under Mexican law, when there is serious death or injury, the guilty party is held criminally liable as is his employer in most cases. If he holds a Federal Commercial License, that is revoked for life.
It might also be noted that this was a private carrier and had nothing to do with the participants in the Cross Border Demonstration Program in the US, nor is this indicative of Mexican truckers.
Fotos courtesy of Vanguardia, El Reforma y El Diario
Tags: Bus Crash
With 35 years in the trucking business, 15 years making my homes in Mexico and being very outspoken about issues I believe in, makes me uniquely qualified to present Mexico Trucker Online & Mexico Verdad to the blogosphere
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