Evening star., 1961-08-03
Bus Wreck in Which Is Americans
Died Located in l65 Feet of Water

HERGISWIL,, zerland,
Aug. 8 (AP).-Divers cropping
through the chill depths of Lake
Lucerne located today the tour
ist bus that plunged off a rain
slick road after colliding with
a truck and carried 16 Ameri-
can vacationers to death.
Twenty-Five survived.
Fifteen bodies, by police
count, were entombed in the
bus when it was spotted at a
depth Of about 165 feet by spe-
cial electromagnetic equipment.
1t lay more than so feet off
shore, having slid off a ledge
after its first plunge.
The bus, carrying 35 Ameri-
can passengers and a staff of
three Europeans, collided with
the truck-trailer yesterday and
crashed through the railing
where the main Interlaken-
Luzern highway is carved out
Of an almost sheer rock cliff
rising from the water.
n Fight Way Out
In the few minutes before
the vehicle slid to the bottom,
19 passengers and the three
crew members fought through
the windows and survived.
zone of the survivors was
Mrs. Martha Isaacs, 2019 I
street NV, a retired Internal
Revenue Service employe. Her
travelling companion, Miss
Louise MacMurray of Green's
boro, N. c., a former IRIS
employe, was drowned.O
All but two of the survivors
were kept overnight in hospi-
tails at nearby StanS and Lu-
zern. Doctors said nearly all
would be released in a few days.
THE bus was filled with
water in a matter of seconds"
said Stanley M. Smith, 81, of
Kansas City. 1--WE hardly even
knew what happened"
Charles Krepps, 65, Of Los
Angeles, and Mr.. Smith fought
their way through a window in
the forward part of the bus.
They said the rear door J
wouldn't open. Most of those
who died apparently were ]
seated toward the rear. {
Bus Strikes Truck
"The first thing I felt was
the noise, the jolt and a crash
when the bus struck the truck" !
said Krepps. "It seemed that ,
our bus lurched forward and :
then started slipping sideways"
ut was all too quick, it went ,
like that" he said and snapped !
his fingers.
A floating tire and ropes
thrown from shore helped two :
middle-aged sisters from Mil
waukee to survive the ordeal.
Mrs. Nora Pannier and her
sister Mrs. Vynita Winters, both
school teachers, suffered only
cuts and bruises.
I'VE were able to open a win
dow and I think maybe we
were pushed out by the pressure !
of water pouring into the bus" ]
said Mrs. Pannier. {
Thirteen of the Is trapped
in the bus were women, many Y
OF them Schoolteachers. The ,
body Of an elderly woman was {
recovered last night. She ap- '
parently had escaped from the
bus as it slid out of sight but Y
drowned trying to reach the |
surface. h
HOneymOOnerS Safe
Two 21-year-o1d honeymoon :
ers, Mr.. and Mrs. Robert Work
of Connellsville, Pa. were re- 7
leased from hospital last night S
and taken to the Lucerne Hotel /
where rooms have been reserved !
for the entire party. n
Two officials from the Amer
lean Consulate in Zurich visited =
the scene late last night. They +
said the survivors lost their 7
documents and all other be- :
longings and would require new :
passports.
United States Ambassador
Robert M. Mckinney visited the .
survivors in Stans hospital and :
said: None seem to have any :
serious injuries. A few have {
very minor injuries, but they
will be up and around, I am q
sure, in a few days"
Remigi Blattler, president of
the cantonal government, and :
other Swiss officials accom-
panied the Ambassador. e
The 43-day tour through =
nine European countries was
organized by Gateway Holiday
Tours of New York. Each
traveller paid $1,027 or more
for the trip. The group of 80
women and five men came
from all parts of the United
States. Many were school,
teachers. A number were ell
derly. Some were retired.
They left New York in June
and should have begun leav-
ing for home August II.
The bus was driven by Bruno
,Giacomello, 45, from Como,
Italy, an experienced driver on
twisting Alpine roads. A Swiss
couple, Mr.. and Mrs. Hans Gut,
acted as tour conductors. All
three were among the sur
vivorS.
The group spent Tuesday
LOST