“I-10 west at LA 3188 (Belle Terre) is now closed due to a fatal crash that is being investigated”, LSP posted on its Facebook page.
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The charter bus driver, Denis Yasmir Amaya Rodriguez, is in America illegally from Honduras, the station said.
Matey said the wreck killed Jermaine Starr, 21, of Moss Point, Mississippi, a back-seat passenger in a Camry that the bus rear-ended, and the district fire chief of St. John the Baptist Parish, Spencer Chauvin.
Matey said speed was a factor in both the crash of the Titan, which bounced from one guard rail to the other about 6:40 a.m., and that of the bus at 7:17 a.m. Police say that those on board were from New Orleans and were en route to Baton Rouge to assist with the flood recovery. All are also from Moss Point.
According to Louisiana State Police, firefighters were on the scene of a single-vehicle crash on I-10 Westbound near Belle Terre Blvd. when a charter bus hit their truck.
Firefighter Nicholas Saale, 32, of Ponchatoula, and Camry passenger Vontravous Kelly of Moss Point, Mississippi, are in critical condition, she said.
He will be taken to the St. John Parish Correctional Center to be booked with criminal charges, including negligent homicide.
Police say that the bus belonged to Kristina’s Transportation LLC/AM Party Bus out of Jefferson. Rodriguez is from Honduras and is in custody pending multiple charges.
“This is a very a sad day for all first responders in Louisiana, ” said Col. Mike Edmonson, Commander of LA State Police.
Meanwhile, a person in a Toyota Camry hit by the bus was also killed, Matey said. State police said a rear seat passenger in the vehicle, 21-year-old Jermaine Starr, of Moss Point, Mississippi was pronounced dead at the scene. “He had minor injuries”, she said. The other two firemen were transported for medical care.
Police say that there were 30-40 passengers on the bus, all of which were reportedly injured with minor to moderate injuries.
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The Acadian Ambulance Service said on Twitter it had taken 38 people to hospitals and that a second ambulance company had transported three to hospitals.
