By Kenneth Heard and John Krupa
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
BAY, Ark. — A bus carrying 10 developmentally disabled people collided with a vehicle traveling the wrong way on U.S. 63 south of Jonesboro on Wednesday, killing five, Arkansas State Police said.
“This is our worst nightmare,” said Rebecca Singleton, the co-director of Focus Inc., a Jonesboro-based nonprofit organization that serves disabled adults in northeast Arkansas.
The bus was taking Focus clients home from the nonprofit’s day center in Trumann on Wednesday afternoon when the accident occurred.
“We are heartbroken over it,” Singleton said.
Two passengers in the nonprofit’s Ford Aerotech bus and its driver died at the scene, said Bill Sadler, a state police spokesman. The driver of the Chrysler PT Cruiser, which struck the bus head-on, also was killed, he said.
Two bus passengers were flown by medical helicopter to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis; one died en route, Sadler said.
One injured passenger was taken to Northeast Arkansas Baptist Memorial Hospital, and three others were transported to St. Bernards Regional Medical Center, both in Jonesboro, said Craighead County Coroner Toby Emerson.
One of the injured passengers uses a wheelchair, he said.
“It’s a terrible scene,” Emerson said. “It’s horribly unfortunate.
“I don’t remember in my 30 years here of seeing an accident with five killed,” he said.
The state police Wednesday night identified Heath T. Bakken, 28, of Jonesboro as the driver of the PT Cruiser and Angela F. Austin, 26, of Trumann as the driver of the bus.
The bus passengers who died were identified as Anthony Vaughn, 25; Michael E. Lane, 34; and Gerald Brown, 56, all of Jonesboro.
The injured bus passengers were identified as Jonathan Vaughn, 29; Regina James, 34; Steve Farmer, 41; Keenan Wilson, 36; and Brian Parnell, 32, all of Jonesboro.
Parnell was in stable condition Wednesday night at Regional Medical Center. Vaughn was in stable condition at Northeast Arkansas Baptist Memorial Hospital.
James was in stable condition at St. Bernards Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said. Two other passengers from the bus were treated and released, she said, but she could not confirm their names.
Two other passengers on the bus were not taken to a hospital.
Emergency responders at the scene said the Aerotech bus was northbound on U.S. 63 about a mile north of Bay when the PT Cruiser struck it. The PT Cruiser was traveling south in the northbound lane at a high speed, police said.
Rachel Carter, the director of Focus’ Trumann center, clutched a passenger manifest at the accident site and gave state troopers the names of those on the bus.
She said there were 10 passengers, plus the bus driver.
“It’s bad,” she said. “I don’t want to say anything else.” Authorities temporarily blocked off a section of U.S. 63 after the accident at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday.
Traffic was rerouted along Nestle Lane and Commerce Drive on the southeastern edge of Jonesboro.
Witnesses told authorities that the bus appeared to swerve toward the right shoulder to avoid hitting the PT Cruiser when it was struck.
The bus flipped over and landed upside down on an incline on the north side of U.S. 63.
The mangled PT Cruiser sat on the shoulder on the south side of the highway.
Two medical helicopters landed in a field near the wreckage.
Debris littered the roadway; a large suspension spring and the grille of the bus sat about 40 yards from the bus. Bandages, two medical neck braces and blood-soaked clothing were strewn across the highway’s shoulder.
Firefighters from Jonesboro and Bay helped rescue victims trapped inside the bus. They had to use a pneumatic extrication device to remove bodies from the wreckage.
“It’s one of the worst wrecks I’ve seen,” said Craighead County Sheriff Jack McCann.
Focus, which has been in business since 1979, helps those who suffer from developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation and autism.
The bus victims live in rural areas near Trumann in Craighead, Poinsett and Greene counties, Singleton said. The bus takes developmentally disabled clients to and from their homes on weekdays.
Clients learn such skills as housekeeping, cleaning and balancing a checkbook.
“They were going home,” Carter said. “They had just finished their class and were going home.”
Copyright 2009 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc.