A bus rider is in the hospital after passengers say a tree fell onto a MegaBus traveling from New Orleans to Houston.
The accident happened on the Atchafalya Basin Bridge near Butte La Rose before 2:00 Monday morning.
One passenger who did not want to go on camera said, “I just screamed for Jesus. I said, Jesus Christ, help us!”
Riders are thankful their bus accident wasn’t worse. They say the packed MegaBus left New Orleans around midnight. Nearly two hours later, the bizarre crash happened.
Teneal Petty said, “Once everyone realized only one passenger was hurt, many people gathered to help him and bandage him up until we could get some help to us.”
The bus damage is quite extensive. The side mirror is ripped off and the windshield is smashed.
“We thank God, we did not fall over because we did hear reports that if he had swerved any harder, if he hit the first part of the tree, we could have flipped over into the water,” Petty said.
Once the scene was cleared, the bus still loaded with passengers pulled off at the Atchafalya Welcome Center.
Yunus Celick said, “Many people didn’t have breakfast, didn’t rest. Some are starting to get pains and we are getting lost on what we are going to do. They don’t respect us money providers.”
Passengers say they were told a replacement bus was coming within an hour of the crash, but that bus didn’t show up until about 12:30 Monday afternoon.
“They said, oh, somebody will call you back in 15 minutes, but I had to call every 20 mins at least three times to get hold of someone,” Petty said. “I will never ride MegaBus again, ever.”
Another rider who did not want to go on camera said, “Had we not called your station, they would not have sent another bus for us and now, we’re on our way to Houston.”
KATC called and emailed MegaBus, so far, they have not responded.
