A charter bus carrying Vietnamese worshippers on a pilgrimage ran off a highway overpass north of Dallas and plunged onto a roadway below early Friday, killing at least 13 people and sending at least 24 to hospitals. The bus ran off U.S. 75 about 12:45 a.m. and skidded across a guard rail before falling 15 feet and landing on its side. The bus carrying 55 people from Houston to Missouri may have blown a tire, but officials were still investigating the crumpled wreckage littered with luggage, shopping bags and scattered clothing. The bus came to rest on its right side in the northbound lane of an access road. Workers righted the wreckage and loaded it onto a flatbed truck. Police said 12 people died at the scene and another died at a Dallas hospital. At least five more were hospitalized in critical condition. The accident happened less than a mile from the spot where a trucker crossed the median and killed 10 people five years ago. The injured, including the driver of the bus, were rushed to several hospitals. It was unclear if weather played a role in the accident. A National Weather Service meteorologist said there was some light rain in the area around midnight. Northbound traffic on the highway was shut down as ambulances and helicopters used the roadway and median to ferry the injured to hospitals. KHOU-TV quoted a Galveston/Houston archdiocese church official as saying many of those on the bus were from the Vietnamese Martyrs Church of Houston and were on their way to a religious festival in Carthage, Mo. At least four translators were brought to the scene, the Herald Democrat of Sherman reported. If you have lost a loved one in a catastrophic incident, contact Beauchamp Law Office for a free consultation of your claim. Beauchamp Law Office attorneys are available 24 hours a day/7 days a week or visit our website at arizonaaccidentinjury.com

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ANKARA, Turkey - A three-story girls dormitory collapsed in central Turkey on Friday, killing at least 17 students and setting off a search for a half dozen people believed to be under the rubble. Frantic rescue workers removed debris with shovels, pickaxes and their bare hands in search of any survivors. The girls, between ages of 8 and 16, were attending Quran courses during the school summer break. "We are hearing voices. I believe those inside the rubble will be saved," Balcilar Mayor Melmut Demirgul told reporters hours after the collapse. But hopes of finding any more survivors began to fade later Friday. Rescue teams pulled out the body of one girl in the afternoon, raising the death toll to 17, Anatolia reported. Demirgul initially told reporters a large gas canister explosion was believed to have caused the collapse. However, the state-run Anatolia news agency and other reports later said the explosion was most likely caused by a leak from a gas installation there. Interior Minister Besir Atalay, who traveled to the area, said at least 16 were killed. He said an estimated five or six students were waiting to be rescued. Besides the fatalities, at least 27 students were brought out of the debris with injuries, said Hasan Kucukkendirci, who heads the local health authority. Galip Sef, an official with the local emergency services, said three of the students sustained severe burns. Provincial Gov. Osman Aydin said an estimated 40 to 45 girls were staying at the dormitory. Anatolia news agency quoted one student, Merve Avci, as saying she had got up to wash before pre-dawn prayers when she and some teachers heard a strange sound and went to the kitchen to investigate. There, they saw a loose gas pipe and she returned to her room after the teachers told her to close the door. Soon after, Avci told Anatolia, she smelled gas and there was an explosion. Half of the building collapsed, but she was in the section that remained intact. She said flames rose from the basement toward the top of the building. Television footage showed residents, some using their bare hands, trying to remove the rubble from a flattened, concrete building. One girl in pajamas could be seen being carried to a hospital. Another could be seen being treated on the back seat of a van, before being moved onto a stretcher and taken away, groaning in pain. At least four military helicopters ferried special military rescue teams to the scene. Rescuers, aided by dogs, were trying to locate survivors, Kucukkendirci said. Anatolia said helicopters flew the injured to a hospital in Konya city. In 2004, an 11-story apartment building collapsed in Konya, killing 92 residents. The collapse was blamed on faulty refurbishment work. A year earlier, a school dormitory in Bingol, southeast Turkey, collapsed in an earthquake, killing 83 children. If you have suffered the loss of a loved one due to the negligence of another, contact an attorney who is experienced in wrongful death/personal injury for a free consultation at Beauchamp Law Office by visiting arizonaaccidentinjury.com

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HOUSTON - A company official says a crane collapse at a southeast Houston refinery has killed four people and injured six others. Fire Department Assistant Chief Omero Longoria says a crane several hundred feet long fell over at the LyondellBasell refinery at about 2 p.m. Jim Roecker, LyondellBasell's vice president for refining, says those killed and injured were contract employees. Longoria says five people were taken to area hospitals. He says two were in critical condition and three others were being treated for trauma-related injuries. Roecker says about 1,500 contract workers are employed at the refinery. If a loved one has been taken from you by a catastrophic injury, or you have been the victim of the negligence of another, we would like to hear from you. Contact an experienced and knowledgeable attorney at Beauchamp Law Office for a free consultation by clicking on Beauchamplawoffice.com

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SAN FRANCISCO, California -- The parents of a teenager killed by an escaped tiger at the San Francisco Zoo filed a claim against the city Thursday, seeking monetary compensation for the mauling of their 17-year-old son. Carlos Sousa Jr. died December 25 when a Siberian tiger named Tatiana escaped its enclosure and attacked the San Jose teenager and two of his friends. Kulbir and Paul Dhaliwal were injured before police shot the tiger dead. Sousa's parents, Carlos and Marilza Sousa, allege the city did not properly house the tiger, noting that the enclosure failed to meet height standards set by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which accredits U.S. zoos. The city of San Francisco "knew the tiger's enclosure was insufficient and thereby knowingly exposed zoo patrons to extremely dangerous, wild animals," according to the claim filed Thursday with the city controller's office. In addition to financial compensation, Sousa's family wants the city to make sure all enclosures at the San Francisco Zoo meet standards set by the zoo association. The city has 45 days to respond to the wrongful death and negligence claim, which is a precursor to a lawsuit, said the family's attorney, Michael Cardoza. "They didn't house the animal properly, so they are responsible for both the death of Carlos Sousa Jr. and the tiger," Cardoza said. "If they had done their job properly, neither one of them would be dead." In the claim, Sousa's parents say they haven't been able to complete their own investigation into the attacks because the police department has not released reports or investigative information. City Attorney Dennis Herrera declined to comment on the claim filed Thursday because he had not seen it. The city last week disputed claims filed by the Dhaliwal brothers alleging negligence and defamation and seek monetary compensation for their injuries. The brothers said they were the targets of a "smear campaign" by a consultant hired by the zoo's manager regarding their role in possibly provoking the attack. Herrera's office said that an investigation found that the city was not liable for those injuries and that the claims should be referred to the San Francisco Zoological Society, the zoo manager, and to the society's insurance company. Mark Geragos, an attorney for the Dhaliwals, said Thursday that he plans to sue soon, possibly next week. If you or someone you love has been seriously or fatally injured due to the negligence of another, contact an experienced aggressive attorney at beauchamplawoffice.com

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Elizabeth Nelligan, 24, sued Dr. Mark Radzicki in 2005, claiming that during a social visit to his house, Radzicki broke her foot after he knocked her over while he was intoxicated. On Monday, a jury in Hampden Superior Court in Springfield awarded Nelligan $5 million. An additional $1 million in interest was awarded by the court. Radzicki was Nelligan's primary care physician when she and her mother went to his house for dinner in January 2005. Nelligan's mother was dating Radzicki at the time. In her negligence lawsuit, Nelligan said Radzicki became intoxicated, then staggered, stepped onto her right foot, lost his balance and fell on her. Nelligan said she was knocked to the floor, with her foot underneath her. Her attorney, Charlotte Glinka, said X-rays taken the next day did not show a broken bone, but follow up X-rays several weeks later showed a healing fracture in her foot. The injury developed into a condition known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, or RSD, a chronic neurological syndrome with symptoms including severe burning pain, tissue swelling and increased sensitivity to touch. Entertainer Paula Abdul has said she was diagnosed with RSD in 2004. Glinka said Nelligan, who was a college student when she was injured, has suffered nearly constant pain since and was forced to drop out of school for two years to manage it. She said Nelligan, who returned to college last fall, abandoned plans to go to medical school because she believes her pain would make it impossible for her to handle the demands of being a doctor. "What the jury heard was that she could live another 50-plus years and she will always have this," Glinka said. "It can wax and wane, and it can be better at times and worse at times, but it will always be there." During the trial, Radzicki denied Nelligan's claim that he was drunk. Radzicki, a general practitioner in Springfield, could not be reached for comment on the jury's verdict. Messages left for him Wednesday at his office were not immediately returned. His attorney, Timothy Netkovick, also did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Glinka said Nelligan had surgery to implant a spinal stimulator, which has relieved some of the pain from her condition, also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Nelligan still takes pain and antidepressant medication, Glinka said.

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The survivors of an innocent motorist killed in a high-speed chase in December want $17 million from state police, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Chandler police in order to avoid a wrongful-death trial.

The parents of Alex Ahmad allege in paperwork filed with Chandler that there was no need for officers to chase a suspected bank robber for 26 miles on East Valley streets and highways because a GPS tracking device was hidden in the stolen money. In addition, a Mesa police helicopter had him in sight.

"This is what happens when you have these high-speed pursuits," said Richard Treon, the Ahmads' attorney.

Treon disputes investigators' conclusions that the fleeing suspect, Richard Schwartz, committed suicide by driving head-on at high speed into Ahmad's car Dec. 5 at McKellips and Dobson roads.

Treon said that after reviewing thousands of pages of police records, interviewing Schwartz's girlfriend and watching aerial video of the crash, he's convinced Schwartz was trying to make a turn onto a dirt road and accidently hit Ahmad.

Schwartz was on his cell phone with his girlfriend in the moments before the crash discussing suicide, but Treon said that doesn't mean he did it.

"He was talking about running into something, not somebody," Treon said.
Treon also alleges in the notice of claim -- a document that has to be filed before suing an Arizona government agency -- that the sheriff's office was involved in the chase and refuses to turn over public records pertaining to it.

"We were not actively involved in that pursuit," said Capt. Paul Chagolla, sheriff's office spokesman.

Chagolla said someone involved in the chase incorrectly stated on the radio that a sheriff's deputy was leading the pursuit in an SUV. He did acknowledge that a Chandler police car and a deputy were involved in a fender bender.

According to a Chandler police report, a Chandler undercover detective in an unmarked car rear-ended a marked sheriff's office patrol car at Loop 101 at Ray Road as they were "following behind a pursuit."

Treon is asking that Chandler pay $2.5 million to Ahmad's parents, but he said he isn't sure yet of the extent of the police department's responsibility.

He's asking for $10 million from the state Department of Public Safety and $5 million from the sheriff's office.

"We were fully within our policies and procedures," said Lt. James Warriner, DPS spokesman.

Officers in the field suspected Schwartz committed an armed robbery and probably committed a series of them and was getting progressively more violent, Warriner said.
He said officers have the discretion to initiate and terminate pursuits based on the department's policy.

Ahmad, 24, was driving his restored Toyota Supra west on McKellips on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community when Schwartz, suspected in a string of bank robberies, including one in Tempe about a half-hour earlier, veered across the center line and slammed into Ahmad's vehicle.

An investigator reconstructing the crash put Schwartz's vehicle speed at 113 mph while Ahmad was going 20 mph.

The chase began in Tempe and snaked throughout the East Valley. At one point, Chandler undercover detectives secretly following Schwartz reported that he was calm and obeying driving laws until a pack of marked police cars from various cities went after him with their sirens on.

If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or even death, contact Beauchsmp Law Office for a consultation with an experienced injury attorney at arizonaaccidentinjuryattorney.com

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A 54-year-old California woman was killed in a boating accident on Lake Mohave Sunday. Officials say Lois Johnson of Riverside swam behind a boat as it backed up and was killed after the propeller severed her leg.

Witnesses reported seeing Johnson of Riverside jump into the lake and swim behind the boat Saturday, National Park Service spokeswoman Mary Hinson said.

Bystanders pulled Johnson from the water, and NPS rangers provided advanced life support. Johnson later died at a hospital.

Johnson’s death is the 14th at Lake Mead National Recreation Area this year.

If you have suffered injuries as a result of another's negligence, contact Beauchamp Law Office for a free consultation of your case at arizonaaccidentinjury.com

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