Houston Students Lose Instruments, Trophy as Bus Burns in Louisiana

Louisiana authorities say everyone got off safely when a bus carrying Houston students home from a band competition caught fire on May 9 – but the bus and their belongings were destroyed.

Louisiana State Police told the American Press the 10:30 a.m. fire shut down the Interstate 210 bridge westbound at Lake Charles for about 41/2 hours.

Pershing Middle School band members were returning from a competition in Orlando, Fla. Authorities say the blaze destroyed the bus, the students’ belongings, the band’s instruments and equipment and the band’s first-place trophy.

State Police Sgt. James Anderson says the driver tried to make it across after a tire went flat on the bridge, because construction has cut it to one lane on both sides.

Anderson says the bus driver was not cited.

Information from: American Press, http://www.americanpress.com