Death toll in NM bus crash rises to 9 after baby dies
The ninth person to die after a passenger bus crash in western New Mexico was an infant who was being treated in a neonatal intensive care unit, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Alex Sanchez, spokeswoman for the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, could not provide any additional details Monday. The patient’s name has not been released.
KOAT-TV reportedly spoke to the child’s parents, Christy Westerdale and Joseph Chandler, and identified the infant as Jordyn Rose. The station said Westerdale went into labor after the Aug. 30 crash.
According to a post on the UNMHSC Twitter page, three more patients remain hospitalized as a result of the head-on
collision between a Greyhound bus and a tractor-trailer.
On Aug. 30, an eastbound tractor-trailer owned by JAG Transportation of Fresno, Calif., crossed into oncoming lanes after a tire failure on Interstate 40 near Thoreau, police said.
The bus was traveling from Albuquerque to Phoenix and was scheduled to continue on to Los Angeles. The truck was carrying produce from Marina, Calif., to Memphis, Tenn.
Police said a 35-year-old man was driving the truck. Police haven’t identified him because he isn’t facing charges, according to a news release from the New Mexico State Police.
The crash happened about 100 miles west of Albuquerque.
A spokesman for the State Police didn’t respond to an email asking if there was an update to the investigation.