TALCO, TX (03/23/2017) — Two adults are dead, and 21 others were injured after the driver of an 18-wheeler truck veered into oncoming traffic and crashed into a Mount Pleasant High School bus.
The accident occurred on Highway 271 (about 20 miles north of Mount Pleasant) Thursday night at around 10:45 p.m. According to reports by Texas schools Superintendent Judd Marshall and Texas DPS spokesman Lonny Haschel, the driver of the northbound 18-wheeler veered into the path of the southbound Mount Pleasant High boys track team’s bus, driven by one of the coaches. The coach allegedly steered right to avoid a head-on collision, but the semi-truck collided with the side of the bus, causing the bus to roll over.
Following the initial impact, the 18-wheeler then crashed head-on into a passenger car which was being driven by 30-year-old Angelica Beard; an assistant coach for the girls’ team.
Angelica Beard was killed in the truck crash, as was the driver of the 18-wheeler (identified as 50-year-old Bradley Ray Farmer). Three coaches and 18 of the 32 students aboard the bus at the time were transported to several area hospitals for treatment of injuries. It was reported that one coach and one student had to be taken to a Tyler hospital via air ambulance (CareFlite).
Marshall says both the girls and boys track teams were returning from a meet in Paris, Texas when the accident occurred, but that the girls’ team was on another bus several miles behind.
