Five people were killed and five were injured Monday afternoon at the intersection of Arkansas 35 and U.S. 65 in Dermott where a Freightliner 18-wheeler hit a small passenger bus, according to an Arkansas State Police preliminary report.
The driver of the 2018 Ford passenger bus was driving west on Arkansas 35, attempting to cross the southbound lanes of U.S. 65 where the bus was struck by the southbound Freightliner. Upon impact, the two vehicles traveled in a southwest direction and off the west side of the highway.
According to the report, bus passengers Tommy Figures, 50, of Dermott; Brayshawn Ranson, 19, of Dermott; Geraldine Prewitt, 73, of McGehee; Terry King, 56, of Dermott; and Regina Jackson, 65, of Dermott, were killed.
Those injured were bus passengers, Robert Bell, 21, of Dermott; Zantress Willis, 18, of Dermott; and Cebra Jordan, 25, of Dermott; as well as the driver of the bus, Susan Kennedy, 47, of Arkansas City, and the driver of the Freightliner, Charles Fowler, 52, of Brinkley, according to the report.
The injured were taken to the McGehee Hospital, Chicot Memorial Hospital in Lake Village, and UAMS in Little Rock.
The crash occurred Monday at 2:45 p.m. The weather was cloudy and the roadway was dry.
