7 Die, 73 Hurt as Train Hits School Bus in Georgia
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES OCT. 24, 1974
ARAGON, Ga. Oct. 23 (UPI)—Seven children were killed and 73 other persons were injured today when a maintenance train backed into a school bus crammed with pupils who could see the train coming but could not escape.
The bus, carrying children to three elementary schools in the area, began to cross the railroad tracks when the driver thought the work train had stopped. Instead, the train, loaded with railroad ties, lurched into reverse and struck the bus.
Thirty children were treated for injuries immediately after the crash and, as the day wore on, the injury figure reached 73, including the driver, according to Donald Tate, administrator of Rockmart‐Aragon Hospital. Four of the injured were hospitalized. One, Cecil Wigley, whose brother was killed, was in critical condition.
Mr. Tate said he was told the bus had 66 seats, but that Georgia law permits a 20 per cent overload.
“The train stopped down there like it was going to let Billy [Kellett, the driver] go across,” said Tommy Duke, an._ 11‐year‐old sixth grader at Euhallee Elementary School, who was sitting in the back of the bus.
‘Started Coming Back’
“When Billy started to go, it started coming back,” Tommy continued. “Everybody started tumbling over the seats. They just started screaming, and then it hit."
Gerald Roper, an 11‐year‐old who suffered a broken arm, said he had climbed out a broken window when the bus came to rest. “They were all screaming and hollering,” he said.
The dead were two girls and five boys, including two brothers, Mike and Timothy Stamps, all between the ages of 6 and 12. Apparently they died instantly.
Cpl. Charles Sanders of the Georgia State Patrol said the train's brakeman, R. W. Moree, had told him that he was calling off car lengths from the crossing from his observation post in the caboose as the train neared the intersection on the Southern Railway tracks.
Mr. Moree said the track was clear when he was only about “two crossties away,” or about 10 feet, the trooper said.
Darrell Smith, who was pumping gasoline at a nearby grocery, said, however, he had heard train workers screaming to the engineer, “Go back! Go back!”
In addition to the Stamps brothers, the dead were Neal Williams, Jerry Wigley, Timothy Streetman and two girls, Lynn Morgan and Chris Holder.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the Federal Government would investigate the accident.
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES OCT. 24, 1974
ARAGON, Ga. Oct. 23 (UPI)—Seven children were killed and 73 other persons were injured today when a maintenance train backed into a school bus crammed with pupils who could see the train coming but could not escape.
The bus, carrying children to three elementary schools in the area, began to cross the railroad tracks when the driver thought the work train had stopped. Instead, the train, loaded with railroad ties, lurched into reverse and struck the bus.
Thirty children were treated for injuries immediately after the crash and, as the day wore on, the injury figure reached 73, including the driver, according to Donald Tate, administrator of Rockmart‐Aragon Hospital. Four of the injured were hospitalized. One, Cecil Wigley, whose brother was killed, was in critical condition.
Mr. Tate said he was told the bus had 66 seats, but that Georgia law permits a 20 per cent overload.
“The train stopped down there like it was going to let Billy [Kellett, the driver] go across,” said Tommy Duke, an._ 11‐year‐old sixth grader at Euhallee Elementary School, who was sitting in the back of the bus.
‘Started Coming Back’
“When Billy started to go, it started coming back,” Tommy continued. “Everybody started tumbling over the seats. They just started screaming, and then it hit."
Gerald Roper, an 11‐year‐old who suffered a broken arm, said he had climbed out a broken window when the bus came to rest. “They were all screaming and hollering,” he said.
The dead were two girls and five boys, including two brothers, Mike and Timothy Stamps, all between the ages of 6 and 12. Apparently they died instantly.
Cpl. Charles Sanders of the Georgia State Patrol said the train's brakeman, R. W. Moree, had told him that he was calling off car lengths from the crossing from his observation post in the caboose as the train neared the intersection on the Southern Railway tracks.
Mr. Moree said the track was clear when he was only about “two crossties away,” or about 10 feet, the trooper said.
Darrell Smith, who was pumping gasoline at a nearby grocery, said, however, he had heard train workers screaming to the engineer, “Go back! Go back!”
In addition to the Stamps brothers, the dead were Neal Williams, Jerry Wigley, Timothy Streetman and two girls, Lynn Morgan and Chris Holder.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the Federal Government would investigate the accident.
7 Die, 73 Hurt as Train Hits School Bus in Georgia
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES OCT. 24, 1974
ARAGON, Ga. Oct. 23 (UPI)—Seven children were killed and 73 other persons were injured today when a maintenance train backed into a school bus crammed with pupils who could see the train coming but could not escape.
The bus, carrying children to three elementary schools in the area, began to cross the railroad tracks when the driver thought the work train had stopped. Instead, the train, loaded with railroad ties, lurched into reverse and struck the bus.
Thirty children were treated for injuries immediately after the crash and, as the day wore on, the injury figure reached 73, including the driver, according to Donald Tate, administrator of Rockmart‐Aragon Hospital. Four of the injured were hospitalized. One, Cecil Wigley, whose brother was killed, was in critical condition.
Mr. Tate said he was told the bus had 66 seats, but that Georgia law permits a 20 per cent overload.
“The train stopped down there like it was going to let Billy [Kellett, the driver] go across,” said Tommy Duke, an._ 11‐year‐old sixth grader at Euhallee Elementary School, who was sitting in the back of the bus.
‘Started Coming Back’
“When Billy started to go, it started coming back,” Tommy continued. “Everybody started tumbling over the seats. They just started screaming, and then it hit."
Gerald Roper, an 11‐year‐old who suffered a broken arm, said he had climbed out a broken window when the bus came to rest. “They were all screaming and hollering,” he said.
The dead were two girls and five boys, including two brothers, Mike and Timothy Stamps, all between the ages of 6 and 12. Apparently they died instantly.
Cpl. Charles Sanders of the Georgia State Patrol said the train's brakeman, R. W. Moree, had told him that he was calling off car lengths from the crossing from his observation post in the caboose as the train neared the intersection on the Southern Railway tracks.
Mr. Moree said the track was clear when he was only about “two crossties away,” or about 10 feet, the trooper said.
Darrell Smith, who was pumping gasoline at a nearby grocery, said, however, he had heard train workers screaming to the engineer, “Go back! Go back!”
In addition to the Stamps brothers, the dead were Neal Williams, Jerry Wigley, Timothy Streetman and two girls, Lynn Morgan and Chris Holder.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the Federal Government would investigate the accident.
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES OCT. 24, 1974
ARAGON, Ga. Oct. 23 (UPI)—Seven children were killed and 73 other persons were injured today when a maintenance train backed into a school bus crammed with pupils who could see the train coming but could not escape.
The bus, carrying children to three elementary schools in the area, began to cross the railroad tracks when the driver thought the work train had stopped. Instead, the train, loaded with railroad ties, lurched into reverse and struck the bus.
Thirty children were treated for injuries immediately after the crash and, as the day wore on, the injury figure reached 73, including the driver, according to Donald Tate, administrator of Rockmart‐Aragon Hospital. Four of the injured were hospitalized. One, Cecil Wigley, whose brother was killed, was in critical condition.
Mr. Tate said he was told the bus had 66 seats, but that Georgia law permits a 20 per cent overload.
“The train stopped down there like it was going to let Billy [Kellett, the driver] go across,” said Tommy Duke, an._ 11‐year‐old sixth grader at Euhallee Elementary School, who was sitting in the back of the bus.
‘Started Coming Back’
“When Billy started to go, it started coming back,” Tommy continued. “Everybody started tumbling over the seats. They just started screaming, and then it hit."
Gerald Roper, an 11‐year‐old who suffered a broken arm, said he had climbed out a broken window when the bus came to rest. “They were all screaming and hollering,” he said.
The dead were two girls and five boys, including two brothers, Mike and Timothy Stamps, all between the ages of 6 and 12. Apparently they died instantly.
Cpl. Charles Sanders of the Georgia State Patrol said the train's brakeman, R. W. Moree, had told him that he was calling off car lengths from the crossing from his observation post in the caboose as the train neared the intersection on the Southern Railway tracks.
Mr. Moree said the track was clear when he was only about “two crossties away,” or about 10 feet, the trooper said.
Darrell Smith, who was pumping gasoline at a nearby grocery, said, however, he had heard train workers screaming to the engineer, “Go back! Go back!”
In addition to the Stamps brothers, the dead were Neal Williams, Jerry Wigley, Timothy Streetman and two girls, Lynn Morgan and Chris Holder.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the Federal Government would investigate the accident.
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