NATION IN BRIEF : KENTUCKY : Burning Seats Cited in Bus Deaths Trial

Defense witnesses blamed flammable seats and mechanical defects for the deaths of 27 people in a church bus collision that has been called the worst drunk-driving accident in U.S. history. Larry Mahoney, 36, is on trial in Carrollton, Ky., accused of driving drunk last year when his pickup truck collided head-on with a bus. The state medical examiner has ruled that all 27 victims died of smoke inhalation. An expert arson investigator testified that the polyurethane foam used to cover the bus seats was “dangerous” and “deadly” when on fire, prompting one of Mahoney’s lawyers to proclaim: “Larry caused the wreck, but the seats caused the deaths.”