Rushville, IN Bus And Auto Crash, Nov 1941

9 DIE IN BLAZING BUS WRECK.

DRUNK DRIVER OF AUTO HELD AFTER CRASH.

ACCIDENT OCCURS WHEN GREYHOUND BUS SIDESWIPED BY CAR HITS CULVERT.

THREE OF 9 INJURED IN CRITICAL CONDITION.

Rushville, Ind. -- (UP) -- The toll of dead in the wreck of a Greyhound bus mounted to nine Saturday night with the death of Bus Driver ANDREW HANSEN, 26, Cincinnati, in a Greensburg hospital.

Rushville, Ind. -- (UP) -- EIght persons were burned to death and 9 injured, three critically, late Saturday when a Greyhound bus struck a culvert, plunged 20 feet into a creek bed and burst into flames after sideswiping an automobile.
Five of the dead were identified as:
JOHN PAVEY, 30, Sabina, O.
MRS. JOHN W. AVERY, 22, Cincinnati, and her two children, JACQULIN DELORES, 2, and PHYLLIS ANN, 1 1/2.
BUCK McKINNEY, South Bend, Ind.
McKINNEY was identified by a tag on his baggage.
The other victims, two men and two women, still had not been identified.
The crash occurred about three miles east of here. The bus was en route from Cincinnati to Chicago and was going west on state road 44.
Sheriff PAUL BENNINGTON said the driver of the automobile, PAUL T. CONNELL, 39, Glenwood, had been arrested and charged with drunken driving. He was unhurt.
Police said the bus turned over in its fall and landed on its top.
It was an old model with the gas tank in the front and when the tank exploded it enveloped passengers in front seats in flames.
The impact burst out the back of the machine and persons riding farther back were able to escape unaided.
First help to reach the scene was a four-man squad from the Rushville fire department, equipped with chemical fire-fighting apparatus.
The squad removed the bodies of six of the victims while the fire was at its peak, shielding themselves from the searing flames by soaking their clothing in water and advancing behind wet tarpaulins.
After the fire subsided, the bodies of the two children were removed. BENNINGTON said the body of the younger child was burned so badly that it was not at first recognized as human remains and was overlooked.
Sheriff BENNINGTON said it was believed the accident was first reported by FRANK RIPENBERGER, whose farm is situated near where the accident occurred.
A chartered bus, carrying 22 soldiers bound for Indianapolis, was following the bus which crashed and pulled up shortly afterward.
The soldiers assisted in treating the injured.
Most of the passengers who escaped thru the rear of the bus suffered burns about the face and hands and several had clothes and hair on fire when they emerged.
CONNELL was taken to the state police post at Connersville where he underwent a drunkometer test. Coroner FRANK GREEN said the test showed CONNELL was intoxicated.
He was forced to stop a short distance from the wreck by a broken left front wheel.
PAVEY and two friends, HAROLD GREGORY, 20, and JAMES FOLAND, 22, both of Wilmington, O., were en route to Madison, Wis., to enroll in the University of Wisconsin, FOLAND said.
The complete list of injured was:
PHILLIP HOFFMAN, JR., 23, Madison, Wis., a soldier en route home on furlough from Camp Davies, N.C. He suffered a broken nose and cuts and bruises.
HAROLD GREGORY, 20, Wilmington, O., fractured left shoulder.
WILLIAM FEITZ, 56, Martinsville, O., head lacerations, broken arm.
MRS. BERNICE FEITZ, 46, wife of WILLIAM, injured critically.
LAYTON PROFFITT, 17, London, Ky., formerly of Rushville, who was burned badly.
QUENTIN McABEE, 23, West DePere, Wis., injured critically.
RAYMOND HORN, 25, Milwaukee, Wis.
JOHN AVERY, 26, Cincinnati.
JAMES FOLAND, 22, Wilmington, O., broken shoulder.

Waterloo Daily Courier Iowa 1941-11-16
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!