Injured kid aids rescue effort after bus crash
Source: Agencies |
March 8, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A BILINGUAL fourth grader hurt in a bus accident that killed six people and injured more than a dozen others in the United States translated from an ambulance stretcher for rescue workers as they hurried to treat patients, authorities said on Saturday.
Oscar Rodriguez was labeled a hero by firefighters and paramedics for helping them communicate with non-English speaking passengers just after Friday's pre-dawn crash on a busy interstate highway in Arizona. They presented him with gifts and a certificate that reads "Hero of the day" at a Phoenix hospital on Saturday.
"This kid stayed calm and was brave more than any other veteran I've worked with," said Kenneth Leslie, a paramedic who was first to arrive at the scene.
The bus was traveling from the central Mexican state of Zacatecas to Los Angeles.
It entered the US at El Paso, Texas, and was headed to Phoenix to change drivers when it hit a pickup truck, veered onto the left shoulder of the road, overcorrected and rolled. The roof of the bus was crushed and its windows were knocked out.
Rodriguez, 11, was one of 22 passengers aboard the bus when it crashed. He and 15 others suffered injuries, including broken spines and pelvises and head injuries. Nine were listed in critical condition on Saturday.
Federal transportation officials said the bus, owned by Tierra Santa Inc, was operating illegally. The company was told in April and again in December not to transport passengers across state lines.
Oscar Rodriguez was labeled a hero by firefighters and paramedics for helping them communicate with non-English speaking passengers just after Friday's pre-dawn crash on a busy interstate highway in Arizona. They presented him with gifts and a certificate that reads "Hero of the day" at a Phoenix hospital on Saturday.
"This kid stayed calm and was brave more than any other veteran I've worked with," said Kenneth Leslie, a paramedic who was first to arrive at the scene.
The bus was traveling from the central Mexican state of Zacatecas to Los Angeles.
It entered the US at El Paso, Texas, and was headed to Phoenix to change drivers when it hit a pickup truck, veered onto the left shoulder of the road, overcorrected and rolled. The roof of the bus was crushed and its windows were knocked out.
Rodriguez, 11, was one of 22 passengers aboard the bus when it crashed. He and 15 others suffered injuries, including broken spines and pelvises and head injuries. Nine were listed in critical condition on Saturday.
Federal transportation officials said the bus, owned by Tierra Santa Inc, was operating illegally. The company was told in April and again in December not to transport passengers across state lines.
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