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Local, federal authorities investigate fatal Texas bus crash

The charter bus was carrying about 50 people when it overturned going north on Highway 83 on Saturday.

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The bus company involved in a crash that killed eight people and wounded 44 in Texas had been repeatedly rebuked in recent years for safety failings.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived Sunday in Laredo and will continue their work Monday. The driver is believed to be among the injured, Hein said.

Webb county authorities said they do not know what caused the crash.

Seven passengers were confirmed dead at the scene of the crash and another died in the hospital.

The driver of the charter bus is still in the hospital with major injuries and has not been interviewed by police yet, according to ABC News.

The San Juan-based OGA Charters owns the bus.

A damaged OGA Charters bus is hauled away after a fatal rollover on Saturday, May 14, 2016, south of the Dimmit-Webb County line on USA 83 North in Texas. The Laredo Morning Times reported the victims who died ranged in age from 52 to 81.

State troopers said it was raining around the time of the accident, though it is unclear if that was a factor in the deadly crash.

It is not clear from online records what, if any, steps were taken to fix the problems. In August 2015, regulators found “general” brake problems in the same vehicle as well as the emergency exit issue, the report added.

The small Texas bus company involved a crash that killed eight people and injured 44 others had been ordered twice past year to take one of its buses off the road to fix brake and emergency exit problems.

The highway was expected to remain closed for hours while the crash is investigated.

15 people injured were taken to a hospital in Laredo, where a spokesperson said that they were all in stable condition.

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Conrad Hein said, “The driver of the bus lost control and rolled over”.

The Webb County medical examiner, Dr. Corinne Stern, said the crash was the “worst commercial vehicle accident” she had seen in the decade she had worked for the county.

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Hernandez said DPS investigators don’t know yet if the bus that crashed was the same one cited a year ago by safety inspectors.

8 killed, 40 injured in bus crash north of Laredo