10 Killed in Texas Prison Bus Crash

PENWELL, Texas (AP) — At least 10 people were killed Wednesday when a bus carrying state prisoners skidded off an icy highway overpass in West Texas, slid down an embankment and collided with a passing train, a county sheriff said.

The overpass on Interstate 20 was slick with ice Wednesday morning when the Texas Department of Criminal Justice bus left the roadway just west of Odessa, according to Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson.

He said five injured people were taken to a hospital. A spokeswoman for Medical Center Hospital in Odessa did not have information on the severity of those injuries.

Justice department spokesman Jason Clark said the bus was carrying 12 prisoners and three corrections officers, and was taking the inmates from a prison in Abilene to another in El Paso.

The Union Pacific train was carrying freight and came to a stop shortly after being struck. Two employees on the train were not injured.