Passengers were priority, driver says

MANCHESTER, Tenn. -- The Greyhound driver whose throat was slashed by a passenger said Thursday that getting the other riders to safety after the bus crashed was his top priority.

The driver crawled from the wreckage for help after Wednesday's attack, but six of the 39 passengers, including the assailant, died.

"By the time I was able to get out of the bus, I ran about 200 yards," Garfield Sands said during a news conference at the hospital where he is recovering. "Help was already there."

Sands wore bandages on his neck and left arm and spoke to reporters from a wheelchair. He received stitches for two 5-inch-long, 2-inch-deep slashes on the side of his neck.

"I feel so good I'm hoping I get to go home tomorrow," Sands said. His doctor, Ralph Bard, agreed he might be released by then.

Sands, 53, of Marietta, Ga., declined to talk about the attack, saying Greyhound would allow him to say more later. "They want me to hold my comments for a while."

Authorities identified two of the dead Thursday -- Amelia Ortiz Nerio, 73, of Lake Wales, Fla., and Fannie Jones, 68, of Georgia.

Some of those who died were not carrying identification, slowing the process of releasing their names, authorities said.

Only one other body has been identified -- Damir Igric, a Croatian citizen the FBI said attacked Sands and then tried to take control of the bus, sending it across the oncoming lanes before it toppled into a field.

A relief driver on the bus also helped passengers out of the wreckage. Lawrence Payton had refused to give up his seat behind the driver to the assailant before the attack, Greyhound spokeswoman Kristen Parsley said.

She called Sands and Payton "absolute heroes." The company planned to reward the men in some way, but no decision has been made on how, spokeswoman Parsley said.