7 die as Greyhound bus, semitrailer collide head-on in US

ALBUQUERQUE (US): A blown tire on a semitrailer may be to blame for a deadly head-on crash with a commercial passenger bus along Interstate 40 in New Mexico near the Arizona border, according to authorities.

At least seven people were killed, and many of the 49 passengers aboard the Greyhound bus were injured, although authorities couldn't immediately provide an exact count of how many were hurt or their conditions.

New Mexico State Police said the semi was headed east on the freeway on Thursday afternoon when one of its tires blew, sending the rig carrying produce across the median and into oncoming traffic, where it slammed into the Greyhound heading to Phoenix from Albuquerque.

The National Transportation Safety Board and New Mexico state police are investigating. At least nine bus passengers were being treated at University of New Mexico Hospital. UNM officials didn't release any details about the patients' conditions.

Passing motorists described a chaotic scene with passengers on the ground and people screaming. Eric Huff was heading to the Grand Canyon with his girlfriend when they came across the crash.

The semi's trailer was upside down and "shredded to pieces," and the front of the Greyhound bus was smashed, he said, with many of the seats pressed together.