Two Killed, 50 Injured In Athens, Georgia-Bound Bus Crash

A second crash in less than a week involving a bus that spent time in Myrtle Beach happened about 2:30 p.m. Monday at Interstate 20 and U.S. 1.

An Athens, Ga.-bound charter bus returning from a family reunion in Myrtle Beach sandwiched a Ford Focus between the bus and a tractor-trailer rig, killing two people and injuring at least 51, a patrol spokesmen said.

Early indications are the bus driver was distracted and drove into the subcompact with enough force to push it under the 18-wheeler, said patrol spokesman Sid Gaulden. The Ford also caught fire.

"The only thing it can be attributed to - barring anything in the autopsy - is driver inattention, which, unfortunately, is the leading cause of highway deaths in South Carolina," Gaulden said.

The charter-bus driver, identified by his company as Edwin Wilbanks, 69, owner of Bowa Trails charters, died at the scene along with the driver of the Ford, authorities said.

The car's driver was Stuart Tony Davis, 30, of Pelion, said Lexington County Deputy Coroner Bill Ziegler.

As of Monday night, Lexington Coroner Harry Harman had not released the identities of all those killed.

On Thursday, a chartered tour bus headed toward Virginia after spending part of the week in Myrtle Beach overturned on Interstate 95 In North Carolina, injuring the driver and 20 passengers. The bus had departed Myrtle Beach and was taking a teen dance troupe to New York.

Gaulden said I-20 was shut down for about 1