Statesville church members who survived fatal bus crash in Tennessee return
Published 12:00 am Friday, October 18, 2013
STATESVILLE (AP) — Three surviving members of a Statesville church’s senior group are returning to their home town to continue their recovery after a deadly bus crash in Tennessee.
WSOC reports that Norma Hellard, Steve Swaim and Ed McLelland are recovering at a rehabilitation center in Statesville. Swaim’s wife is still hospitalized in Tennessee. McLelland’s wife was one of six church members killed in the crash.
Seventeen members of Front Street Baptist Church’s seniors ministry were returning from a religious gathering earlier this month when the front tire of the bus failed on Interstate 40 near Knoxville, Tenn.
The bus ran across the median, hitting a sports utility vehicle and a tractor trailer rig. One person in each of those vehicles died.