Bus Collides With Cow

Monday, May 14th 2007, 10:52 am

By: News On 6

BOISE CITY, Okla. (AP) _ A passenger bus slammed into a cow and veered into a pasture, injuring several passengers, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported. Seven passengers were transported by ambulance to a Boise City hospital after the accident about 4 a.m. Sunday along U.S. 287 in the western tip of the Oklahoma Panhandle, Trooper Adrian Carillo said.

The bus struck a cow standing on the highway, causing the vehicle to leave the roadway. The bus then smashed through two barbed wire fences, hit an embankment and went airborne before coming to rest on its wheels in the pasture, Carillo said.

Two passengers were later transferred to Texas hospitals and held overnight. Barbara Misikin, 63, of Georgetown, Idaho, was in good condition, and Shawnita McClean, 27, of Dallas was in stable condition, the OHP reported.

All the other passengers were examined and released from Cimarron Memorial Hospital in Boise City, Carillo said. The bus was carrying 15 passengers and the driver, who wasn't injured, Carillo said.

The Denver-bound TNM&O Coaches bus was heading north from Dallas when the accident happened, said Lonny Kane, the Lubbock-based company's general manager.

A second bus was sent to pick up the passengers and continue to Denver.

``A black cow in the middle of the night, and there's just two headlights on the front of the bus,'' Kane said. ``We're just glad the bus went off the road in a safe area.''

The cow was killed on impact.