| Alton, Texas, bus collision | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Date | September 21, 1989 7:34 AM |
| Coordinates | 26°17′06″N 98°17′52″W / 26.285059°N 98.297884°W |
| Country | United States |
| Incident type | Head-on collision, immersion into water |
| Statistics | |
| Passengers | 81 |
| Deaths | 21 |
| Injured | 49 |
A school bus crash occurring on September 21, 1989, in Alton, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley region, resulted in the deaths of 21 junior and senior high school students by drowning or causes related to being asphyxiated. A bottling truck collided with the school bus, causing the bus to enter a caliche pit filled with water. The driver of the truck was acquitted of negligent homicide charges. The payoffs from lawsuits compensating for the deaths of the students caused division in the Alton community. A middle school that was built in Alton was named in honor of the deceased.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatal Accident Reporting System, the Alton crash was the sole school bus accident in the United States in the period 1979–1989 in which passengers died due to submersion-related causes.[1] As of 2010[update] it is the deadliest school bus accident that had ever occurred in Texas.[2][needs update]