Up to 10 passengers on a Greyhound bus travelling through Kentucky died yesterday after one man, for no apparent reason, leant over the driver and slit his throat. The bus, which contained 40 people, veered across the road and turned over.
Moving to reassure an already jittery nation, the US Justice Department and the US Department of Transportation said initial indications were that the incident was not related to the September 11th attacks but services were suspended for seven hours as a precaution.
The company carries about 25 million passengers a year as the remaining nationwide bus service.
Although the driver of the bus was last night recovering in hospital, his assailant, reported to be a Croatian passport holder, was among those who died.
The bus, left Louisville, Kentucky, for Atlanta before crashing at 4.15 a.m. (Central Time). The crash happened near Manchester, 50 miles southeast of Nashville.
The driver explained afterwards, it appeared the man was trying to commit suicide by driving the bus towards traffic on the other side of the motorway.
