GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A charter bus with 32 teens and four adults returning from church camp caught fire as the group was on the way back to Georgia.
For a few moments, the group was worried the bus might explode, Channel 2’s Tom Regan learned.
The campers belong to a youth ministry group at Iglesia de Dios Ebenezer Church in Snellville.
They have been doing the church camp getaway for the past five years or so.
Many of the exhausted campers were asleep on the bus when they suddenly had the life-threatening emergency on the road.
“Our main fear was maybe the bus was going to explode,” said youth minister Grisel Torres.
Torres described how a joyful church camp getaway turned terrifying.
Moments after getting on I-85, they heard a bus tire explode.
“I just turned to the side and looked out the window and saw a bunch of smoke and fire coming up from the tire,” Torres said.
The driver pulled over to the side of the interstate, and the campers and adults scrambled to get off the burning bus quickly and safely.
“We didn’t know what to expect, what was going to happen. It was emotional turmoil for everyone that was involved, especially the campers that were calling their parents. I can’t imagine how distressed the parents must have felt at that moment,” Torres said.
She says within minutes, fire consumed more than half of the bus. The group was taken to a truck stop to await pickup by another charter bus.
Torres said she has reached out to charter company following the fire but hasn’t heard back.
The youth ministry set up a GoFundMe to help with recovery efforts.
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