BALDWIN Co., Ala. (WPMI) - Images of a burned out shell of a bus seared themselves into the minds of passengers who had just escaped the danger that came so close. It was the trip full of many pleasant memories. Then came Thursday. Then came the fire.
"There was a loud sound, sounded like we had a blowout on the passenger side," John Haynes said. "I woke to someone saying it's a fire, it's a fire," fellow passenger Tremaine Johnson recalled.
That fire grew fast forcing everyone on board to try to outrun the flames. "We got off the bus with a few injuries," Haynes said, "People falling off the bus and between 3 to 5 minutes the entire bus was engulfed in flames."
The passengers, who were heading to Durant, Mississippi, could only watch as the bus burned. Watching with them, miles of traffic crawling down the road. It may be hard to believe, but there was something to salvage: luggage also survived. One bag bore a tag from the passengers' recent trip on the Carnival cruise ship Sensation.
"At first you were worried about the cruise ship because we were on a Carnival Cruise and we get on the bus and this happens, it puts everything in perspective," Johnson said.
There were no serious injuries, officials said as they worked to find out what caused the blaze.
