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Casino Trip Ends in Tragedy

WEST MEMPHIS, Arkansas – As reported by the Associated Press: "The bus trip from Chicago to a Mississippi gambling town was a twice-a-year tradition for the group of friends and relatives, as much about visiting, laughing and reminiscing as it was about trying to strike it rich.

"Fourteen of the 30 travelers were killed when the bus crashed early Saturday on Interstate 55 in Arkansas. Many of the others were critically hurt.

"While family members kept vigil at hospitals Sunday in Little Rock and Memphis, Tenn., members of the victims' churches prayed for them in Chicago.

"…The owner of the mom-and-pop tour operation, Roosevelt Walters of Chicago, lost his wife and brother in the crash. Walters' wife, Mareen, 67, arranged the trip for the group, and his brother, Herbert, 67, was the driver.

"'In one instant, he lost it all,' the Rev. James Meeks told his congregation at Salem Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side.

"…'It seemed like a tight-knit group of people who were fun-loving,' Meeks said.

"Investigators spent Sunday trying to determine whether Herbert Walters fell asleep at the wheel, causing the bus to drift off the road, or if there was a mechanical problem with the bus…"

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