Six killed in Greyhound crash; passenger says driver attacked

Associated Press WriterMANCHESTER, Tenn. (AP) -- A Greyhound bus crashed Wednesday, killing six of the 38 people aboard and prompting Greyhound to halt all service nationwide as a precaution, authorities said.

The bus crashed after a passenger slit the driver's throat, another passenger told a Nashville television station. Steve DeFord, a spokesman for the Coffee County Sheriff's Department, said he could not confirm details of what happened. But he told NBC "the assailant" was among those killed and that the investigation has been turned over to the FBI.

Six people were killed and the 32 others on board were injured, said Dana Keaton, Tennessee Department of Public Safety spokeswoman. The extent of the injuries was not immediately determined, Greyhound spokeswoman Karen Chapman said.

The bus, No. 1115, was en route from Louisville, Ky., to Atlanta when it crashed at 5:15 a.m. CDT, Chapman said. The crash happened near Manchester, 50 miles southeast of Nashville on Interstate 24.

Speaking by cellular phone from the crash site, passenger Carly Rinearson told Nashville TV station WTVF that a man who appeared to be 30 to 35 years old kept approaching her front seat and asking what time it was. She said the man then asked if he could have her seat, and she refused.

Afterward, "he just went up to the bus driver and, like, slit his throat, and the driver turned the wheel and the bus tipped over," Rinearson said.

Dallas-based Greyhound stopped all service as a precautionary measure after the crash, spokeswoman Kristin Parsley said. About 1,900 of its 2,300 buses had been on the road when the crash occurred, she said.

She said buses already en route were allowed to continue to their destinations.

Chapman said the company halted all its service "to see if the incident would impact the safety of passengers elsewhere." She would not confirm an on-board attack or say why the crash might impact other buses. She did say, however, that nationwide service would not normally be halted after one accident.

Chet Lunner, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation, told CNN, "we don't have any indication throughout our system that this is part of any pattern."

------Greyhound has set up a toll-free phone number for relatives seeking information about passengers 800-884-2744.