Alton, Texas bus crash

A school bus crash occurring on September 21, 1989, in Alton, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley region, resulted in the deaths of 21 junior and senior high school students by drowning or causes related to being asphyxiated.

The payoffs from lawsuits compensating for the deaths of the students caused division in the Alton community.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatal Accident Reporting System, the Alton crash was the sole school bus accident in the United States in the period 1979–1989 in which passengers died due to submersion-related causes.

[2][needs update] Around 7:34 A.M.,[3] a Dr Pepper delivery truck,[4] operated by the Valley Coca-Cola Bottling Company, collided with a Mission Consolidated Independent School District school bus along Farm to Market Road 676,[4] also known as 5 Mile Road/Line and Mile 5 Road/Line,[5] at Bryan Road.

[6] The bus filled with water within 30 to 60 seconds,[11] resulting from openings in side windows, the front boarding door, and the windshield which had become dislodged.

The NTSB named the small sizes of the exits as factors inhibiting escape.

"[11] Agents from the U.S. Border Patrol and 125 emergency vehicles from various agencies assisted in the rescue.

[8] A football game scheduled for September 22 was converted into a memorial service held at the Mission stadium.

[4] In May 1990 a guardrail system along FM 676 at the accident site was installed by the Texas Department of Highways and Public Transportation, as the City of Alton had requested.

[22] The Josefa Garcia Park has a memorial with 21 crosses, one per deceased victim, and a statue of Jesus Christ.