GoddessofWisdom
October 4th, 2001, 11:10 AM
Doctor: Bus Driver Likely Saved Lives
By BILL POOVEY, Associated Press Writer
MANCHESTER, Tenn. (AP) - His neck bleeding, the Greyhound driver whose bus went off the road after he was slashed by a passenger managed to crawl from the wreckage and search for help for the many victims, his surgeon said.
Dr. Ralph Bard said Garfield Sands told him what happened after the Wednesday crash that killed the blade-wielding attacker and five other passengers. According to Bard, Sands said he climbed out of the overturned bus in a field, stumbling in the night toward a nearby light in search of help.
``Everybody who could be saved from that accident was saved,'' Bard said. ``He gets out and goes for help. This is a good guy.''
Sands, 53, of Marietta, Ga., was in stable condition after Bard stiched up two 5-inch long, 2-inch deep slashes on the side of his neck. The 34 passengers who survived the crash were all injured, including a pregnant woman who underwent a successful Caesarean section hours later. She and the baby were in stable condition.
The FBI (news - web sites) identified the assailant as Damir Igric, 29, a Croatian who entered the United States in Miami in March 1999 with a one-month visa. He boarded the bus in Chicago.
The attacker struggled with Sands for control of the wheel before it crashed on Interstate 24, 60 miles southeast of Nashville. Sands said he was attacked with a box cutter or razor, according to Bard, who said Sands' ``thick neck'' saved his life.
After the crash, Greyhound shut down service as a precaution, pulling 2,000 to 2,500 buses off the nation's highways. After consulting with federal and state officials, it resumed service at noon, about seven hours later.
``The officials have assured me that they believe this tragic accident was the result of an isolated act by a single deranged individual,'' said Craig Lentzsch, Greyhound president and chief executive.
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the name on the man's passport is not on government lists of known terrorists and those sought by the FBI in the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
The FBI said Igric was apparently trying to take over the bus when he attacked the driver.
``We believe he was acting alone,'' said R. Joe Clark, the special agent in charge of the FBI's office in Knoxville, Tenn.
The bus, which originated in Chicago, was headed for Orlando, Fla., when it crashed. Most of those aboard were asleep. Dr. Al Brandon, chief of staff at the Medical Center of Manchester, said Sands told him the attacker was polite and spoke with a foreign accent.
``Every few minutes he seemed to ask (the driver) what time it was and where they were,'' Police Chief Ross Simmons said.
Sands told doctors the passenger suddenly ``accosted'' him, grabbed the wheel and forced the bus into the lanes of oncoming traffic. It crossed the road and tipped over.
The driver told Brandon his attacker was thrown through the windshield.
By late afternoon Wednesday, 14 passengers remained hospitalized. Others were treated and released.
``I was on the bus and I'm alive. That's all I can tell you,'' passenger Ricardo Jamal Brooks said as he left a hospital. He decided to take a bus from Flint, Mich., to Atlanta because he was worried about airline safety.
The temporary shutdown of the buses stranded some 70,000 passengers at stations across the United States. The bus company carries 25 million passengers a year.
Lentzsch said security was being bolstered after the crash. As service resumed, carry-on luggage was searched, and some passengers were checked with hand-held metal detectors.
By BILL POOVEY, Associated Press Writer
MANCHESTER, Tenn. (AP) - His neck bleeding, the Greyhound driver whose bus went off the road after he was slashed by a passenger managed to crawl from the wreckage and search for help for the many victims, his surgeon said.
Dr. Ralph Bard said Garfield Sands told him what happened after the Wednesday crash that killed the blade-wielding attacker and five other passengers. According to Bard, Sands said he climbed out of the overturned bus in a field, stumbling in the night toward a nearby light in search of help.
``Everybody who could be saved from that accident was saved,'' Bard said. ``He gets out and goes for help. This is a good guy.''
Sands, 53, of Marietta, Ga., was in stable condition after Bard stiched up two 5-inch long, 2-inch deep slashes on the side of his neck. The 34 passengers who survived the crash were all injured, including a pregnant woman who underwent a successful Caesarean section hours later. She and the baby were in stable condition.
The FBI (news - web sites) identified the assailant as Damir Igric, 29, a Croatian who entered the United States in Miami in March 1999 with a one-month visa. He boarded the bus in Chicago.
The attacker struggled with Sands for control of the wheel before it crashed on Interstate 24, 60 miles southeast of Nashville. Sands said he was attacked with a box cutter or razor, according to Bard, who said Sands' ``thick neck'' saved his life.
After the crash, Greyhound shut down service as a precaution, pulling 2,000 to 2,500 buses off the nation's highways. After consulting with federal and state officials, it resumed service at noon, about seven hours later.
``The officials have assured me that they believe this tragic accident was the result of an isolated act by a single deranged individual,'' said Craig Lentzsch, Greyhound president and chief executive.
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the name on the man's passport is not on government lists of known terrorists and those sought by the FBI in the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
The FBI said Igric was apparently trying to take over the bus when he attacked the driver.
``We believe he was acting alone,'' said R. Joe Clark, the special agent in charge of the FBI's office in Knoxville, Tenn.
The bus, which originated in Chicago, was headed for Orlando, Fla., when it crashed. Most of those aboard were asleep. Dr. Al Brandon, chief of staff at the Medical Center of Manchester, said Sands told him the attacker was polite and spoke with a foreign accent.
``Every few minutes he seemed to ask (the driver) what time it was and where they were,'' Police Chief Ross Simmons said.
Sands told doctors the passenger suddenly ``accosted'' him, grabbed the wheel and forced the bus into the lanes of oncoming traffic. It crossed the road and tipped over.
The driver told Brandon his attacker was thrown through the windshield.
By late afternoon Wednesday, 14 passengers remained hospitalized. Others were treated and released.
``I was on the bus and I'm alive. That's all I can tell you,'' passenger Ricardo Jamal Brooks said as he left a hospital. He decided to take a bus from Flint, Mich., to Atlanta because he was worried about airline safety.
The temporary shutdown of the buses stranded some 70,000 passengers at stations across the United States. The bus company carries 25 million passengers a year.
Lentzsch said security was being bolstered after the crash. As service resumed, carry-on luggage was searched, and some passengers were checked with hand-held metal detectors.