Local News

AUSTIN, Minn. (WCCO) ― The Minnesota State Patrol said it will take a great deal of time to figure out exactly what caused a tour bus to rollover and crash on Interstate 90, killing two people.

On Thursday, the Patrol identified the two people who died in the crash as Pamela S. Holmquist, 56, of Kasson, and Rhonda R. Hill, 52, of Plainview.

The owner of the bus company said the driver suffered a ruptured aneurysm just before the bus veered off a southern Minnesota interstate and crashed. State officials said they couldn't confirm the aneurysm and it was too early to know the cause of the crash.

Ed Erickson, 52, of Elgin, was driving a group of mostly older passengers home from a day trip to an Iowa casino on Wednesday when the bus swerved and rolled in the ditch near Austin.

The bus passengers ranged in age from 52 to 87. One passenger was in serious condition at Saint Marys, the patrol said. Five others were in fair condition at hospitals in Rochester, Austin and Albert Lea. Thirteen passengers were treated and released, and one apparently wasn't hurt, the patrol said.

Click here to see the complete list of passengers injured.

Randy Lavoie, a spokesperson for Strain Bus Line which owned the bus that crashed, said Erickson suffered and aneurysm in his chest and lost consciousness shortly before the bus swerved off a clear, dry freeway and rolled into a ditch.

State Patrol spokesman Capt. Matt Langer said Erickson had a valid commercial license to operate the 47-passenger bus. Commercial vehicle drivers also are required to get physicals and carry a medical card. Langer wouldn't comment on the status of Erickson's medical card.

The bus was carrying 23 people including Erickson and was on its way back from a day trip to the Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa. A total of 21 people suffered some sort of injury in the crash.

Erickson, of Elgin, is "quite shaken" and "his first concern was the passengers," Lavoie told the Post-Bulletin of Rochester on Wednesday night.

The bus company's owner, Dalmer Strain, reported that a passenger said Erickson's body shook and he slumped over the wheel.

Lavoie told the Post-Bulletin that Erickson had been a full-time driver for Strain since 2006 and a part-time driver since 2002.

The Patrol said that investigators talked with Erickson Wednesday night, but wouldn't release what he said. The Patrol made it very clear that they don't yet know what caused the crash and said they are hearing conflicting reports from witnesses of the crash.

The bus has been impounded and the Patrol said it will be thoroughly inspected.

Bold Lines Inc., which does business under the Strain name, is talking to insurance adjustors and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, office manager Steve Burt told The Associated Press on Thursday. "As of right now we are still gathering the facts ourselves," Burt said.

The bus was traveling east on Interstate 90 just west of Austin on Wednesday afternoon, carrying a group of mostly senior citizens on their way home from a day trip to an Iowa casino. It crossed the median into the westbound lanes, flipped and ended up on its side in the ditch north of the freeway.

Passenger Ardell Swenson, 71, of Austin, said she was just putting her head back to rest when the bus crashed.

"When I got myself organized there was all kinds of red and white and blue lights flashing," Swenson said. "There was glass all over."

Langer said the bus had no seat belts, and when it overturned, some passengers were trapped underneath. Rescue crews were forced to pull off the bus's windshield because the 47-passenger coach had settled on its right side, blocking the door.

Tammy Eggum, of Hayward, who was driving in the other direction at the time of the crash, told the Austin Daily Herald that the bus briefly went airborne before landing on its side.

"It was like the movie 'Speed,"' Eggum told the newspaper.

Bold Lines is a small operator with six drivers and four buses and has had no accidents in the past two years, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Web site.

In 2002, Bold Lines paid $20,000 to settle an enforcement case over drug testing for drivers, according to the federal safety agency. It also paid $300 to settle a case over driver duty times and record-keeping.

The agency has advised roadside inspectors to inspect the company's vehicles because of safety concerns, according to the Web site. Its "Inspection Selection System" rated Strain at a 76, with any score between 75 and 100 meaning an inspection is warranted.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)