Bus crash victims helped each other to safety in Bosnia
(Published Wednesday, June 13, 2007 10:34:36 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Carrie Antlfinger Associated Press
MILWAUKEE - Despite the shock of their bus plunging down a 40-foot ravine into a southern European river, the driver and 34 passengers, mostly from Wisconsin, pulled together to get everyone to safety, a family member said Tuesday.
The group, including the Bosnian driver, was traveling to a Catholic shrine in the southern Bosnian town of Medjugorje when the bus hit a jackknifed semi Monday evening on a wet road about 12 miles south of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and then fell down the ravine.
Twenty-seven Americans were injured in the crash. One man had a life-threatening condition, while others were stable Tuesday, hospital officials said.
"A lot of the men on the trip helped pull the others to safety and got them out of the water," said the Rev. Mike Lightner, associate pastor at St. Francis Borgia parish in Cedarburg. His mother organizes the trips to Medjugorje.
"The water wasn't deep, but obviously there were some pretty extensive injuries," he said.
Twenty people were hospitalized in Sarajevo's Kosevo hospital and of those, two were children: an 11-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother.
"They were more traumatized by the accident than injured," said the hospital's Dr. Lidija Lincender.
Seven others were taken to the General Hospital, the U.S. Embassy said.
Most people had broken bones, scrapes, bruises or concussions, Lightner said, adding his 42-year-old brother was still hospitalized Tuesday with a broken shoulder, leg, ankle and foot.
Nine people associated with Trinity Academy in Pewaukee went on the trip, said parent Liz Noack of Hartland. That includes parent Andy Meier, who had neck surgery Tuesday, his wife Elizabeth and their three children.
"The school has been praying for all of them, especially Andy," she said.
Noack said the doctors who performed Meier's surgery "are pleased with the outcome of that." She said he also had skull injuries and was expected to undergo surgery for that after he stabilizes. Meier's wife has been keeping people at the school up to date, she said.
One of the other men, Kevin O'Brien, had carried some people off the bus, Noack said.
The passengers were on their way to a shrine visited by millions of faithful since 1981, when six Bosnian Croats said they began seeing apparitions of the Virgin Mary. The Medjugorje apparition has not been officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Kathleen Hohl of the Milwaukee Roman Catholic Archdiocese said the group left Chicago Sunday on a 10-day pilgrimage.
Lightner said his 74-year-old mother has organized trips to Medjugorje since 1989 and has gone on most of them - about 80 - but recently had knee surgery and was unable to make this one.
His mother finds good air fares, the group stays with host families and they meet a tour guide there, who provides the buses, Lightner said.
Rev. Rick Wendell, associate pastor at Holy Angels Parish in West Bend, served as spiritual director for the trip, Lightner said. Wendell, who is in his late 40s and was ordained last year, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Hohl said. No one immediately returned a call from the parish Tuesday.
The people on the trips usually hear about them through word of mouth and many know each other, Lightner said.
This time, 10 were from the West Bend area, two from Green Bay, four from Appleton and the rest are from the suburban Milwaukee area, including Pewaukee, Jackson and Kewaskum. A friend of a Wisconsin resident who lives in South Dakota also went on the trip, he said.
"There were some people that went above and beyond to get everyone out," Lightner said. "It's a miracle that everyone's alive."
Associated Press Writer John Hartzell contributed to this report.
