AKIPRESS.COM - Thirteen people who were on their way home from a church retreat in southwest Texas were killed Wednesday afternoon when their bus collided head-on with a pickup truck, U.S. media reported citing officials.
The bus, which was carrying 14 people, most of them parishioners in their 50s or older from First Baptist Church in New Braunfels, was traveling south on Route 83, about 100 miles west of San Antonio, when it collided with a Dodge pickup just before 12:30 p.m., according to Lt. Johnny Hernandez, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, and Barron Casteel, the mayor of New Braunfels.
The driver of the pickup, the truck’s only occupant, and one other were injured, Lieutenant Hernandez said. It was not yet clear how the crash occurred, he said.
Mr. Casteel called the church a “pillar” of the community that has long been involved in youth programs.