2nd Person Dies in Kentucky Bus Crash

By KRISTIN M. HALL

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The driver of a bus that crashed on a southern Kentucky interstate died Tuesday, bringing the toll to two in the crash that injured more than 60 family members traveling home to Alabama from a reunion.

The driver, Abraham Parker, 63, died at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., hospital spokesman Jerry Jones said.

A passenger, Carrie Walton, 71, died at the scene early Monday when she was thrown from the bus.

Kentucky State Police said a preliminary investigation found that Parker had apparently dozed off, causing the bus to run off Interstate 65 and strike an overpass support about 75 miles north of Nashville.

The bus was owned and operated by C&R Tours of Birmingham, Ala., which had a satisfactory safety rating when it was last reviewed in March, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. It had not reported any accidents or injuries in the last two years. The company did not return a message left by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The passengers included about 40 members of the Jackson family from Forkland, Ala., and several town officials, said Cynthia K. Stone, city clerk in the west Alabama community of 630 people.

A child remained in critical condition at Vanderbilt, and 13 other people remained hospitalized in Nashville and in Bowling Green.