Following up on today’s train-bus collision

“This is a sad day,” Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said this afternoon after a downtown Biloxi collision between a CSX train and a tour bus carrying 48 people. Three passengers died on the scene and another died later. Eight are reported critically injured. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those in this tragedy, and, of course, with their families. The Good Lord doesn’t give you more than you can handle, and we’re going to learn from this as we go forward. We owe that to the people on this bus today and to the 5.7 million people who visit our city each year.”

 

The next step

Said Biloxi Police Chief John Miller: “Our specially trained accident reconstruction team will work with federal authorities, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Rail Administration and others, along with CSX investigators, to determine exactly what happened this afternoon.”

 

Number for families

Family members with inquiries may call the Biloxi Police Department at (228) 392-0641.

 

Helping hands

Among the agencies that assisted the Biloxi Police and Fire departments this afternoon: American Medical Response, Acadian Ambulance, Merit Health, Keesler medical and military personnel, D’Iberville Fire Department, the Harrison County Sheriff, Harrison County Sheriff’s Department, Harrison County Fire Marshal, Harrison County Coroner, Mississippi Department of Transportation, the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Salvation Army, American Red Cross, and the Gulfport Fire Department, whose firefighters manned Biloxi fire stations while Biloxi firefighters were at the scene.

 

Treating the injured

Merit Health emergency workers set up a triage station at the scene, which was just east of the Main Street rail crossing.

The numbers of people transported from the scene this afternoon and the medical centers where they were initially transported:

Merit Health Biloxi – 13

Singing River Hospital, Pascagoula – 11

Memorial at Gulfport — 7

Ocean Springs Hospital – 6

Garden Park, Gulfport – 3

Airlifted from scene to Singing River – 1

Fatalities on scene – 3 

Refused medical treatment at scene – 4

 

At the scene

It took Biloxi first responders one hour and four minutes to extract those injured from the bus. All had been evacuated from the scene within 90 minutes of the collision.

 

Clergy members

“We want to express our thanks to the clergy members who were on the scene this afternoon,” Biloxi Fire Chief Joe Boney said. “We had clergy members from all denominations at the scene, assisting and comforting the injured, and, yes, providing Last Rites to those who perished.”

 

More info online

See video and other updates about today’s tragedy on the city’s Facebook page. To go there, click here.