CHARTER BUS CATCHES FIRE

BENTON -- A charter bus from Whitesville, Tenn., caught fire near Benton while driving south on Interstate 55 Saturday afternoon.

Six people were taken by ambulance to St. Francis Medical Center, where they were treated and released.

The bus, chartered by Union Springs Baptist Church in Whitesville, was carrying 35 passengers home from Six Flags in St. Louis when the engine caught fire, said the Rev. Donzell Hykes, pastor of the church, as he and the other passengers waited for another bus to take them home.

Passengers were evacuated from the bus and firefighters extinguished the fire.

"We got all our possessions off the bus. All we lost was a good dinner," said Hykes, who added the bus had been headed to Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston when the fire broke out.