2 Killed, 18 Students Hurt When Big Rig Strikes School Bus

MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas (AP) — Two drivers are dead and dozens of students are injured after an 18-wheeler truck veered into oncoming traffic and struck vehicles including a bus carrying a Texas high school track team.

Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Lonny Haschel says the collision occurred late Thursday near the town of Talco, about 100 miles northeast of Dallas, as the Mount Pleasant High School athletes were returning from a meet.

The boys' team bus toppled over in the initial collision then the big rig struck a car driven by an assistant girls' team coach. The girls' team bus wasn't involved in any collision.

Haschel says the drivers of the 18-wheeler and the car were killed in the wreck. Superintendent Judd Marshall told KXAS-TV in Dallas that 18 students were taken to hospitals.