OPELOUSAS, La. – One Hurricane Katrina (search) evacuee died and 17 others were injured when a bus carrying them from the Superdome swerved across a highway median and overturned Friday.
The accident happened when the driver lost control of the bus, but other details about what caused the wreck were not immediately known, said Trooper Willie Williams, spokesman for the state police.
Between 45 and 50 people were on the bus; every one was transported to a hospital, he said.
"We have multiple critical injuries and multiple serious injuries and some minor injuries," Williams said.
The bus overturned about 130 miles west of New Orleans (search).
The bus was the last of five charter buses in a convoy from New Orleans. It was unclear where the storm victims were being taken.
Mike Sawyer, 56, of San Diego, Calif., was a passenger on the bus, but was not injured. He said he didn't see what caused the accident.
Sawyer, who had been visiting New Orleans when the hurricane hit, spent five days in the Superdome.
"Isn't that a jinx? Or it's just a coincidence," Sawyer said of all the hardship of the past several days.
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