24 Elderly Evacuees Die When Bus Catches Fire

The evacuation of the U.S. Gulf Coast turned deadly on Friday when a bus carrying elderly evacuees fleeing Hurricane Rita along a major escape route burst into flames and killed an estimated 24 people on board, officials said.

    The accident turned a historic evacuation already delayed by endless traffic jams into a nightmare, as the Category 4 hurricane barreled toward the heart of the U.S. oil industry with winds near 135 mph (217 kph) and Texas officials predicted catastrophic destruction.

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