KEARNEY, Neb — A Thursday morning bus trip to Denver was a long one for a homeless man who lost a service dog he calls his best friend in a crash on Interstate 80.
Anthony Pavarotti, 53, was one of the 39 passengers on a Burlington Trailways bus involved in the 2 a.m. crash with a semitrailer two miles east of Gibbon, Neb.
Pavarotti was awake when the bus traveling from Omaha to Denver hit an overturned semitrailer truck. His 4-year-old dog died in the crash.
“I'm having a hard time dealing with it. We've never been separated,” Pavarotti said.
The Nebraska State Patrol said 41 people, including the bus and semi drivers, were taken to a Kearney hospital after the accident.
Nebraska State Patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins said the semitrailer overturned after the driver drifted into the median and overcorrected.
The vehicle came to rest on its side, blocking the westbound lanes near Gibbon, and a second semitrailer truck clipped the overturned trailer and ended up in a ditch. Then the bus ran into the overturned semitrailer.
Pavarotti said he was awake and looking out the front window from his seat four rows behind the driver.
The crash threw Pavarotti forward into the seat in front of him. He hit his right knee and bit his lip.
Pavarotti said he believed driver Michelle Anderson, 50, had been talking on her cellphone during the crash.
But Collins said the initial investigation showed the cellphone was not in use when the accident happened.
American Bus Association spokesman Dan Ronan said the bus company's policy allows for professional calls such as determining weather and road conditions.
He said Anderson has had her commercial license for nearly 10 years, including seven years driving for Burlington Trailways. He said she had logged 824,000 miles without an accident.
The bus was new, having been put into service just two weeks ago, and was fully equipped with seat belts.
Collins said Anderson remained in critical condition Friday. The driver of the first semi — Mohammed Arguini, 39, of Antioch, Tenn. — was in fair condition.
Bus passenger Barbara Bishop, 77, of Hemet, Calif., was in serious condition Thursday. Passengers Danny Briggs, 48, of St. George, Utah, and Willie Abner, 50, of Birmingham, Ala., were in fair condition.
The 61-year-old driver of the second truck was not hurt.
Other passengers who were treated and released from the hospital resumed their trip around 8:30 a.m.
This report includes material from World-Herald staff writer Roseann Moring and the Associated Press.
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