Six from bus still hospitalized

Published 11:33 pm Monday, July 13, 2009

JACKSON (AP) — Six people, including one in critical condition, remained hospitalized Monday, a day after a church bus flipped three times on Interstate 20/59 in east Mississippi, killing one person, authorities said.

Brandon Ugarte died after the crash Sunday morning and 23 others were injured, Lauderdale County Coroner Clayton Cobler III said. Hospital officials told Cobler that Ugarte was 18.

The bus had a blowout and rolled three times while carrying a youth group from First Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., to Georgia, said Sgt. Herman Bouldin of the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

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Cobler said the bus rolled three times and at least two passengers were trapped beneath the bus. A group of National Guard soldiers from Alabama was on the highway at the time and helped free the injured.

Cobler said three victims were still in Meridian, while three others were airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson and remain there.

‘‘Everyone else has been released and have gone back to Shreveport with broken bones … and things like that,’’ Cobler said.

On its Website, First Baptist Church said there will be a Tuesday prayer service and Ugarte’s funeral will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. John Berchmans in Shreveport, La.

Ugarte’s body will be transported to Bellview, Neb., for burial.

The church said Maggie Lee Henson, Lauren Murchison, and Sarah Smith are being treated at UMC in Jackson and Kyle Kelley, Jason Matlack, Chase Johnson are in Meridian hospitals.

Henson suffered severe head injuries and remains in critical condition, church officials said.