PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Port Arthur Police are investigating what led to a deadly crash on Highway 82, near the southern tip of Pleasure Island Monday morning.
A dump truck belonging to Beaumont-based company LSJ Trucking and a Hotard bus crashed near the causeway around 7:30 a.m. Both drivers died at the scene.
“At this point in time, we are still currently conducting an investigation on it," Jeremy Houston, Port Arthur Police Department deputy chief, said. "So, we can not tell the public exactly how this accident occurred at this point in time."
Officials are still working to identify the families of the two victims. The drivers were the only occupants of both the vehicles, no one else was harmed.
“I think the bus was supposed to be headed over to the refinery area to pick up some passengers," Houston said. "However, it was just the driver there was nobody else occupying the bus."
The roads surroundings the scene of the accident were closed for most of the day, forcing drivers to find alternate routes. The roads have since been reopened.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in the last two years, LSJ trucking has had one crash reported resulting in an injury, and Hotard Coaches, Inc., has had no fatalities or injuries reported.
12News reached out to both companies, and both declined to comment.
This year the Surface Transportation Act is being reauthorized to continue to improve transparency in reporting incidences like these and keeping safety requirements current. It a process that occurs every five years.