3rd person dies after La. crash involving bus carrying flood relief volunteers
NEW ORLEANS -- A Mississippi man died Thursday from injuries suffered when a bus carrying people seeking flood recovery work in south Louisiana hit a fire truck and other vehicles on an elevated highway west of New Orleans.
State police said Vontarous Kelly, 33, of Moss Point, was the third person to die as a result of Sunday’s accident on Interstate 10.
Kelly was a passenger in a car driven by Jermaine Starr of Moss Point, who died after the crash. Also killed was a St. John the Baptist Parish fire chief, Spencer Chauvin.
State Trooper Melissa Matey said that for reasons under investigation, the bus struck the left side of the fire truck that was angled in the right lane, CBS affiliate WWL reported.
“The bus then struck the rear of a 2012 Toyota Camry, and the Camry was pushed into the rear of a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado and flatbed trailer. After striking the rear of the Camry, the bus veered into the right lane between the Trooper unit and the Tita,” she said.
More than 30 others were injured.
Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday ordered that U.S. and state flags over the state Capitol be flown at half-staff until sunset on Friday to honor Chauvin, whose funeral was Thursday.
“By all accounts, District Chief Chauvin was a courageous hero who never missed an opportunity to save a life or have the back of one of his fellow first responders,” said Edwards.
State police are investigating the crash. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is taking the lead in investigating the owners of the bus, AM Party Bus and Kristina’s Transportation LLC.
Bond is set at $1.1 million for the man accused of driving the bus, Denis Yasmir Amaya Rodriguez, 37, a Honduran immigrant. State police say he entered the country illegally and did not have a driver’s license.
The fire truck that was hit by the bus was stopped on the highway to block traffic while state police investigated an earlier wreck.