44 injuries, 2 deaths in bus crash on icy road near Memphis

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A Mississippi official is identifying two women killed in a tour bus crash on an icy road near Memphis, Tennessee.

DeSoto County Coroner Joshua Pounders says the dead are 70-year-old Betty Russell and 61-year-old Cynthia Hardin, both of Huntsville, Alabama.

The two women died after a tour bus operated by Teague VIP Express overturned on Interstate 269 in Byhalia, about 35 miles (southeast of Memphis.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Capt. Johnny Poulos (POHL’-uhs) says witnesses told investigators that the driver lost control after crossing an icy overpass and the bus rolled over on the driver’s side, coming to rest in the highway median.

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National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway says the federal agency hasn’t determined yet whether it will investigate the crash of a tour bus in northern Mississippi that left two dead and dozens of others injured.

Holloway said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that the board typically investigates crashes where it can make recommendations for systemic safety improvements, but doesn’t investigate every crash.

Duane DeBruyne, of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, says his agency doesn’t investigate crashes but will “assist in way we possibly can” with any local, state or NTSB inquiry.

A Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman says two people are dead and 44 others have been injured aboard a tour bus that overturned on an icy highway in the northern part of the state near Memphis

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