Bus With U.S. Tourists Plunges Off English Highway; 10 Killed, 30 Hurt
A bus carrying American tourists to Canterbury Cathedral careened off a rain-slicked highway Wednesday, killing 10 people and injuring more than 30 when it plunged down an embankment.
Nine Americans and the British driver were killed, the State Department said in Washington. Two sisters from Louisiana and Texas were among the dead.
The coach carrying 46 people clipped the back of a van on the M2 highway in Kent county in southeastern England, police said. It spun around, plunged through a crash barrier and landed on its side 20 feet down the embankment.
Trapped and injured passengers screamed as firefighters battled to cut them from the wreckage. Nearly all the passengers were taken by ambulance or helicopter to nearby hospitals.
The accident happened about 9:40 a.m., about two hours after the coach, operated by the British company Travellers International, left London with 42 Americans, two Canadians, the driver and a British guide on board.
The tourists were on a day trip to the 12th-Century Canterbury Cathedral, seat of the Anglican Church, and to Leeds Castle.
Five family members were among the casualties. Two sisters--Deborah Weimer, 34, of Lafayette, La., and Francis Hubbard, 52, of Houston--were killed and two other sisters and their 75-year-old mother were injured, said their brother, Tommy Becnel of Lafayette.
The van driver, who was alone, kept control of his vehicle and pulled over, Hermitage said. He was given routine tests for alcohol and cleared.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
