E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA bus in Miami carrying mostly elderly Jehovah's Witnesses accidentally crashed into an overpass too low to accommodate it. NBC's Craig Melvin reports.
Updated at 7:10 p.m. ET: A bus hit an overpass at Miami International Airport on Saturday, killing at least two people and injuring more than two dozen on board, officials said.
One person died at the scene and another at a hospital.
Three other passengers were listed in critical condition, NBCMiami.com reported. The bus was chartered by a Jehovah's Witness group headed to a church convention in West Palm Beach.
The bus, which officials described as "heightened" but not a double-decker as originally reported, hit the overpass going into the airport's arrivals section on Saturday morning, airport spokesman Greg Chin said. The bus was going about 20 mph when it clipped the roof entrance.
Chin said 32 people were on the bus, and all have some sort of injuries. Of them, 31 were transported, according to the police report. Most of the injured were able to walk away from the bus, a Miami-Dade dispatcher said.
Betty Yu / NBC 6
Crews assist at the scene of the bus accident at Miami International Airport on Saturday.
The arrival area remained blocked off by fire trucks and police cars Saturday morning.
Miami-Dade police Lt. Rosanna Cordero-Stutz said the bus is privately owned and typically used for tours. It was not immediately clear where the bus was headed, but Cordero-Stutz said the driver, 47-year-old Ramon Ferreiro of Miami, was unfamiliar with the area and did not intend to wind up at the airport.
Buses are supposed to travel through the departure area, not the arrival section, because it has a higher clearance for large vehicles, Chin said.
The overpass had a clearance of eight feet and six inches, while the bus was about nine feet tall.
The names of the victims were not immediately released.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- 66 species of coral proposed for protection by US
- College students witness murder suicide in class
- Wikileaks case: Manning asked why he didn't complain earlier
- Missouri Powerball jackpot winners revealed: 'We’re still stunned by what’s happened'
- Mystery man claims winning Powerball ticket ... in Maryland?
- Harvard latest college to accept BDSM club
Leave a Comment:
Does not id the driver.. Anyone want to bet we can't pronounce his name or understand what he says??
at the last minute he yelled "duck" and everyone looked up..............
And then the bus quacked.
See where your job went? Redistributed to a Communist Russian, I hope the bus was full of Democrats!!!!
you d*##s the driver was non union worker .
Leroy:
Possibly a "scab."
OK, I'll be the first. My sincerest condolences to those who lost loved ones on that bus, and a speedy recovery to those injured :)
Guess the driver could not read or understand the English language looking at the big yellow signs stating High vehicles turn left.
After reading the postings..... "I hope the bus was full of Democrats!!!!"
It is obvious that most of you are morons, uneducated people with no brains.
I wash my hands from the American idiots. You disgust me.
case dismissed...
Andrew61:
From one poster's derogatory comment you generalize by applying it to "most". I'm not saying you're wrong about your point; not in the least. But a reflection of "uneducated people with no brains" may be observed from NV posters all over the planet, as well. Don't forget to dry your hands. And, I'm taking bets you'll be back.
"32 people were on the bus, and all have some sort of injury" they left out they also found a bunch of lawyer`s right there at the airport handing out their business cards!!!! MO MONEY MO MONEY!! Great jury`s down there also!!
Since when do articles like this id the driver? I've read articles about train and bus accidents and rarely have any of them id'd the driver. Did you forget to take your blood pressure medication this morning?
hey lee, Ayn Rand (I doubt you know who she is, she wrote "atlas shrugged" and "the fountainhead" among other libertarian books) was a russian. and your heros, the Koch brothers' grandfather got his big start by building oil refineries for Stalin.
Don-678026 - There are plenty of accidents by native born Americans. Your comment just shows how racist, xenophobic and prejudiced you are. Is that how you were brought up with so much hatred?
times like this...make you feel relieved if...all your friends ride a low rider...take a little trip...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xTGrfs5TXM
Sandra, your comment shows your inability to read a comment and understand why the poster might have written it. There are two gigantic yellow signs warning of the low bridge and telling drivers to turn left. While you can easily argue that the driver was a native born moron who ignored the signs, it is also very possible that the driver was unable to read the signs due to his lack of English comprehension skills. Good comment Don.
Another illegal driver in on a visa kills Americans. The sign says any vehicle over 8' must turn left. Not any vehicle over 8 steps high!!
Every bridge or overpass has the height restriction posted on it, here it was over looked I would say it is time to lower the street elevation by the airport staff to make changes to the clearance so this won't happen again.
Way too many low bridge underpasses in Miami, especially on "airport routes", and many are unmarked, or not marked until vehicles get right up to them. Really a piss poor and dangerous area for truck traffic.
Which could probably indicate that he/she is the average United States high school graduate
I just find it hard to believe that everyone was injured and several people died in what looks like it should have been a minor accident. 20 MPH? The damage to the bus looks about right. The crumpling should have absorbed much of the impact, and it's not in an area where you would expect the passengers to be in direct contact, unless some of them were standing at the front of the bus.
Anyone else think this is strange?
What makes you think the bus driver couldn't read English? Since he was lost, my bet is that he was looking at his map or GPS rather than the road.
You guys should read the whole article before jumping to all of those conclusions!
"but Cordero-Stutz said the driver, 47-year-old Ramon Ferreiro of Miami, was unfamiliar with the area"
don theres 400 million white folk in russia and u cant pronounce their names either u dolt.
russia?
can to. IVAN. see.
Driver is more likely Chinese than Russian.
lol no doubt true..
russian...techno...Ivan...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aPVlOROkas
@homesick yank, since it's Miami the driver is more likely Cuban than Chinese or Russian!
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE BEFORE YOU POST. IT WILL HELP YOU NOT LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT!
"but Cordero-Stutz said the driver, 47-year-old Ramon Ferreiro of Miami, was unfamiliar with the area"
Thank you, BigJeff...Just shows how so totally racist people are; I am surprised that there were not remarks because they were of the Jehovah Witness faith.
Jersey... I'm thinking it's because this is a tragedy no matter what, and it was a hired tour bus operator who apparently doesn't know how to read clearance signs. This is awful.
Clipped?
gm Tramp
Looks to me like the bus was the one that got the haircut.
to the neckline ,...GM Bill
we got a truck eating RR overpass here that despite, signs, lots of flashing lights and a loud warning siren, that are both activated by a beam located a block away ( speed limit is only 25) and yet it still eats about a dozen trucks a year, ya just cant fix stupid.
Yeah so stupid like they can"t raise the bridge or lower the road or both. Drivers that don't realize they are doing something wrong won't heed warnings. That danger should be fixed so it doesn't endanger unsuspecting motorist. Like a long steep curve that isn't banked...road dangers should be corrected.
So what you're saying is that since you can't fix stupid, the public should pay for their stupidity? Then how will Darwin Awards ever survive?
Larry,
the Bridges correct them without the do-gooders, govt , or spending a ton of money.... one driver at a time.....
Connecticut and Pennsylvania have many low bridges and they eat their share.
Ok Larry, yes lets make all bridges, underpasses, parking garages, home garages with a minimum height of 100 feet. Unsuspecting drivers really, there are height signs, warning signs, instructions to turn left and he still hits the overpass. There is only one cure for stupid but something tells me the driver wasn't amongst the dead.
20 mph?
Yes. 20mph. Bus was built in CHINA! HELLO !
@larry-22606... best dumbest post ever!! you win hands down!! county`s, states, and the nation is broke.(i think?) lower roads? raise bridges? hell yes! raise my friggen taxes more!(which will be happening real soon fool) as long as that truck gets thru safe this country will pull thru! more dept!!! don`t for get your lunchbox monday!
Hmmm... It is very difficult to believe that the bus driver ignored, or did not see, THREE signs about height limit.
Maybe as part of the tour routine the driver was using the microphone to tell passengers what they should be doing to prepare for leaving the coach, instead of paying attention to driving.
A moment of inattention resulted in a very bad and sad situation for all involved.
The article said the driver was lost, and did not intend to be at the airport. The average person when lost usually focuses more on their surroundings. Maybe he was trying to read a map.
Hey, give Larry a break! If you live in a major metropolitan area you know damn well that the local govt. (city, county, airport authority etc.) will have that road or bridge torn up for something on a regular basis. Fix it next time!
Larry must be a democrat...........
From that picture, it doesn't look like the bus "clipped" anything. That would imply that the bus was perhaps a couple of inches too tall for the overpass. Instead, it looks like it was a few feet too tall, which makes it even more inexcusable.
It doesn't look like it was only going 20 mph either.
Throw a watermelon at a wall at 20 mph and see what you get. Top running speed for most people would be around 15 mph...try running into a wall at that speed.
You already have obstacle sensors installed in the back bumpers of some new cars and pickup trucks. Put a forward-looking sensor -- based on a radar, sonar or laser -- on the roofs of these high overhead vehicles, to give the driver advanced warning of a lack of height clearance.
Most tall vehicles I've been in has the height marked above the sun visor. When you see a sign with height restrictions, all you have to do is glance at the sign then look above you to see if your vehicle height is lower then what the sign indicates. If you can read English and know basic math, you're golden.
And who would take the airport exit if they were lost? It's usually congested. And most airports allow you to drive around it's perimeter without going to the arrival or departure terminals.
Rad, How about we hire people w/ just an iota of common sense.
The rest of you can vote democrat
Has this tour bus driver never gone that way before? Do they post the height of the bridge over the opening? Obvious questions nbc didn't think to answer.
Not only the height of the opening. What was the height of the bus ?? That is something the driver must know.
Apparently not, or the bus would have fit under the overpass. And I'm guessing he probably won't be going that way again.
Probably not. Clearances are required on highway overpasses, but not in airport parking areas. Some have them, some don't. Bridges are another question entirely.
He may have been driving a different bus than he normally does. If the clearance had been posted and he knew the height of his bus, then it's more likely the accident could have been avoided. If he was just guesstimating, then he guessed wrong.
Clearances ARE posted on all overpasses at MIA and the driver was neither authorized nor scheduled to go to the airport in any event, he likely made a pickup in order to pocket the money on the side.
Posted warnings will not prevent willful disregard and lack of respect for life or property damage however... welcome to Miami.
Ya gotta read the story...
"...the driver was unfamiliar with the area and did not intend to wind up at the airport."
It's been updated since it was originally posted.
Like Obama heading for the facial cliff, with lights flashing and bells, horns blaring he continues to go FORWARD.......Blaming "a handful of Republicans" all the while banging & banging for the same total power Egypt's Morsi wants!!!!
Really Lee? Please tell me in this story where that is stated. The topic is a driver hit the overpass at the airport because he either did not or possibly could not read the road signs. That has very little to do with the fact that you are still having a fit over the outcome of the election.
My candidate did not win either, but I can still keep my mind on something other than the POTUS.
I'm really getting a kick out of you people. Asking questions that were answered in the Article and the people answering the the questions with no knowledge. lol! most of you can't really drive, but you think you can because you got a piece of plastic in your pocket that says you can. I drove a trk for many years and it was 13' 6" tall and 80 feet long and when fully loaded 80,000 Lbs Gross, it took 560" to stop from 60 MPH in a panic stop situation. That's 40 feet less than 2 football fields end to end. By Law all over passes are marked across this land, including the ones that is to low for us to pass under. I was trained in the begining to read ever single sign and that was a very valuable lessen. most of you don't even look at MM post along the Hgwy nor do you know which way the mile run from low to high numbers. It is often said in this profession that if you don't know excatly where you are, you are lost. We go to a lot of places where we have never been on roads we haave never seen to places we have never heard of. Yes it is very important to read the overpass ahead and how tall it is before you get there. These signs have saved many of us on a lot of occassions but there is always the few that, even we call stupid.
If you look at the pictures now posted with the story, you can plainly see the clearance sign right above where the drivers head entered the overpass.
lee, you are proof that IQs in the US are declining
6dogs Did you mean 560' ? 560" is only 46'+
Miami-Dade police Lt. Rosanna Cordero-Stutz said the bus is privately owned and typically used for tours. It was not immediately clear where the bus was headed, but Cordero-Stutz said the driver was unfamiliar with the area and did not intend to wind up at the airport.
Obviously not a Professional Driver. No Excuse. Updated or not, blaming the NBC News staff and wire reports is just looking to pick nits. There are people dead and the driver is responsible, absolutely.
My condolences to those families and friends of the innocent killed passengers.
NBC-------Nothing But Crappy reporting.
Not familiar with typical msnbc/nbc reporting, are you? The article has been updated since it was originally posted, but I guess it's more fun to play the know-it-all than to consider that.
Thank you AG99. Lesson learned.
some sort of ?...cant ya just here it ? .....A bus?....well it's a big long shiney thing with wheels that were made of rubber that were going around.. but thats not important right now.....shades of "airplane".....
The driver was probably distracted because he was discussing gladiator movies with a young passenger.
Driver: "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking."
Tower: "Clarence, you don't have clearance."
"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"
"its comeing right at us......."
McCroskey (speaking on phone): "Keep him at 25,000."
(inaudible response over phone)
McCroskey: "No, feet."
Dr. Rumak: "How soon can you land?"
Capt. Oveur: "I can't tell."
Dr. Rumak: "You can tell me, I'm a doctor."
Capt. Oveur: "No, I mean I'm just not sure."
Dr. Rumak: "Can't you take a guess?"
Capt. Oveur: "Well, not for another two hours."
Dr. Rumak: "You can't take a guess for another two hours?"
I think the driver had to be drunk or blind. maybe both.
lets see bus is 11 ft 6 inch ...the sign says 9' ....hum....11 minus 9 ...hum...gets out phone scrolls to calculator option......
I'm with Don on this one. Probably has no formal training, doesn't understand road signs, overworked and underpaid, working for "Fly-by-Night Bus Co. LLC".
To operate this vehicle he would be required by state law to have a Chauffeurs Licence at least, and that assumes some sort of training and understanding.
I agree....everyone knows a vehicle won't start or allow itself to be operated unless the driver has the proper qualifications and licenses. The law won't allow it. duh.
Based on the signs and flashing lights in the photo he was also required to turn left before the overpass rather than plow into it.
Odds are, these details will not come out in a followup story. In South Florida, having proper licenses rarely indicates the ability to uphold the responsibilities associated with them.
It is nuts on our roads, and texting/cellphone drivers account for many accidents, road rage, and traffic jams every second of every day. I have to assume it is a Nationwide problem.
Blaming a 'foreigner' is indicitive of blind accusers' mindset. More wealthy WASP in Escalades(and the like) have cut me off/nearly 'clipped' me than the 'My First Car in America!' crowd. There ARE plenty of both on the roads.
Watch out for ALL of them!
Time for laws prohibiting the use of electronic handheld devices while driving to be passed by Federal Law. The States would have the opportunity to save lives as well as make bundles of cash.
How much does the government charge for a chauffeurs license these days? Probably just an executive order allowing anyone to drive a bus!!
In FL the traffic rule are merely guidelines.
Oh my, I am lost, hmmm, this sign says, departures and goes up in elevation, this other sign says, arrivals and stays level, well, I am arriving, so I will go this way!
CRASH!
Perhaps unrelated, except that it also happened in Miami; a driver transporting a huge backhoe illegally drove under the Palmetto Expressway yesterday. The heavy equipment tore into the support structures, smashing the concrete to bits.
Did he stop when he realized that the clearance was too low? No, apparently he floored it in an attempt to escape, ensuring that the damage spanned the entire 8 lane overpass rather being confined to a small section.
This is extremely common in Miami, where such drivers invariably flee the scene of any accident. This behavior reflects the cultural criminality, lack of respect and responsibility and pervasive third-world attitude that is unfortunately the norm here rather than the exception.
WE down here in SoFla cannot only blame the Third Worlders. It appears to be post-contagious in all census classes down here.
If there were a law against "stupid", the population of the US would be cut in half and Obama would have had zero votes.
... and you'd be in jail.
Wow, still smarting over the results of the general election?
Sorry to break it to you Jethro, but there aren't enough ignorant bigots and evangelicals to win presidential elections anymore. And BTW, if God actually loved evangelicals and rednecks, he wouldn't keep sending tornados to destroy their trailers.
Rober, you are exactly right and by the moranic comments you drew that is all the proof you need.
@Mjolnir-889746, you left out "Educate yourself". No proper liberal diatribe is complete without that phrase! Hurricane Sandy does, however, point out the flaw in your theory. Not too many trailers destroyed, but a lot of "educated" libs up a creek!
Not at all OldDog47, hurricanes are widespread conflagrations that provide clear warning, allow residents to prepare or evacuate and affect virtually everyone in the area through which they pass.
Tornadoes approach with greater stealth, often jumping over potential targets in their path to destroy others and are drawn specifically to trailer parks because of how much the conservative fundamentalists that commonly inhabit and breed within them suck.
Cueing up theme to "Rocky".
What is with the word "clipped"? Some writers seem to use this word every time there's an accident.
This bus DID NOT clip the bridge. It HIT IT!!!
YouHe NAILED It!Must have been a demwhitcrap writing this article. He is blaming the bus for running into the overhead instead of an idoit driving the bus.
Going 20 MPH? And the idiot driver couldn't stop?
Uh.....not "couldn't" stop....."didn't try" to stop. You only try to stop when you know you're going to hit something. This guy apparently didn't realize his vehicle was going to strike the overpass. He obviously hit it without braking at all.
While speeding, while lost.
Brilliant.
I do not understand how so many got hurt less two killed ?? at 20mph the picture shows it was higher then the driver. This has got to be a freak accident ?? REALLY ONLY MPH
I'll try and help ya out. YES....the overpass was higher than the driver. Guess what? The driver wasn't killed. A couple passengers were. The passengers are seated quite a bit higher than the driver. If you don't think 20MPH is enough to do some serious damage try this.....get one of your friends to drive your car at 20MPH.....you sit in the passenger seat.....have him drive real close to the right berm of the road. Now stick your upper torso out the window, lean out nice and far and let yourself get hit by a utility pole. That's exactly what happened to the folks in the first row of passenger seats.
As for the other passengers getting injured. Do the same test as above but slam into a brick wall at 20 MPH without a seatbelt on as most folks in buses don't strap in. Imagine that impact without warning and the ability to brace yourself for impact in any way. Your face will without a doubt pancake against the windshield. That is essentially what happened to the rest of the passengers. They were tossed around by the impact.
Hope that helps.
FINALLY.......Shake-Boy gave you all a lesson that you should have learned in basic science, health, and math. Don't even really have to go as far as physics. Good job.
This guy had no sense of "Hey, that looks really close, maybe I should stop and check"
At normal height the driver sitting in his seat would be approximately 7'9" at the top of his head. How could he not figure out that the extra 4 feet above his head wouldn't go?
Do you see the signs that say, " over so many feet, turn left. Guess he didn't see those.
Those signs are not written en espanol and at twice the size. But you can bet that they will be soon enough.
The article doesn't say why the people were injured. Was it because seatbelts aren't required on buses?
Seat belts?
probably not , they probably weren't wearing helmets, knee pads, chest protectors, shin protectors, back braces, steel toed boots, OBA's, mouthpieces, earplugs, gas masks, goggles, bullet proof vests, or wrapped in bubble wrap either.......
IA.ScooterTramp........THAT was awesome. I can't stop laughing. Sorry for the dead and injured, but just ask Gilligan, those three hour tours can bite you.
The majority of the passengers were probably thrown against the seat in front of them, or ejected from their seat entirely, or injured from debris when the roof of the bus collapsed. No matter; the root cause was NEGLIGENCE. The driver obviously had no idea of the height of the bus or the underpass and never bothered to check. As an OTR driver (37 yrs. buses, 18-wheelers, you name it) I remember my Dad teaching us: "The bridge always wins."
It doesn't matter where the driver was from or what he had for lunch.
Today's lesson cost 2 lives.
If you look at the picture there is a height warning placard indicating minimum clearance in the middle of the overpass in plain view as well as a sign indicating that if your vehicle is more than 8' high to turn left. This is inexcusable.
None of these numbers can be correct. 8 ft 6 inch clearance height cannot be correct. Just look at the photos with the men around the bus. Everyone of these guys is around or just under 6 ft tall. This article cannot be correct.
A bus is more than 9 ft high. More accurately it is is around 12 ft tall.
The eight and a half or 9 foot warning is oftimes applied to the lowest point along the entire pathway thru the airport(or other example of garage, etc.). It gets even lower than the warning height along the inside lane, as well as elsewhere along the arrival area pathway, perhaps. Having extra room above the actual height would be prudent as a further safety consideration/allowance.
Either way, NO EXCUSE for the driver that brings back those passengers killed.
Miami, Gateway To The Americas, needs a higher gateway...
BUS-TED !
What!, Please, why don't the city build overpassed higher, do I have bring along my measuring tape, sue the city.
Great. Watch out, Rico. You sound like you could be next.
Good Luck with that...
If you are driving your car and start to pull into your garage with the door half open do you need a tape measure or do you use common sense???????? What an idiotic question!!
Well, from living in Miami for 20 years I can definitely understand the part where he 'did not intend to end up at the airport' MIA is one of the most confusing places ever and one wrong turn and your there.
However, there really is no excuse for driving into it. Unless your driving a car, you should always be more cautious in areas like that and PAY ATTENTION TO THE SIGNS.
But please, someone enlighten me on how a person's political views have anything to do with a crash.
I grew up in Miami and that airport is radically different than it was in the past. Frankly, it is a nightmare to drive around. If you are not familiar with it there is no way you're not going to go down the wrong turnoff or something on the first pass - unless you are blindly lucky. And if you think language might be a problem - you'd probably be at least 50% correct. But, everyone better get used to it. It's here to stay and some mighty proud politicians think it is the goose that laid the golden egg.
When a US Air flight was cancelled between Charlotte and Greenville we were loaded onto shuttles. Our driver did not speak English, drove 40 MPH on the interstate, stopped in the left driving lane when he got confused. When we reached Greenville I asked for is DL he would not show it to me and walked away. When I complained to US Air they brushed me off. We have a lot of unlicensed drivers driving buses and shuttles, it is scary.
I wish you had called the police!
Is thee some kind of alternative CDL for those who don't speak English? "Guest" drivers? Or a way to have a "translator" to "help" a non-English speaker take the test? Could that be the problem with this accident?
20 mph and lots of injuries???? Find that hard to beleive that there would be so many at a low rate of speed. There has to be more to this story.
Shake Boy explains it very well in a post above......#15.1 - Sat Dec 1, 2012 9:42 AM PST......that is the posting number
Also see post #18.1 - Sat Dec 1, 2012 9:54 AM PST by IA Scooter Tramp...........
The bus was full of OLD PEOPLE! They break easily!