5 dead in Texas bus crash

The impact of the crash peeled back the side of the bus.

GARLAND, Texas (CNN) -- Members of Garland's Metro Church gathered Monday night to offer each other support and solace after four young church members died in a bus accident while on their way to a summer camp in Louisiana.

The bus driver, Ernest Carter, was also killed in the crash on Interstate 20, about 30 miles east of Dallas. Thirty-five other people on the bus, including 33 teens and two counselors, were taken to eight hospitals. At least one was so seriously injured that authorities initially thought the crash victim was dead.

Teen-agers from the 1,200-member church in suburban Dallas were on their way to a church camp at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, about 250 miles from Garland. They were part of a youth group at Metro Church that met on Wednesday nights, and it was the second year that teens from the church went to the camp.

This Wednesday night, a memorial service for the victims is planned.

"Metro is a very close body of believers," said Sean Burns, a church deacon. "You don't just go to church Sunday morning and that's it. These are friends, these are families."

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Four young members of a Garland, Texas, church died in a bus accident while on their way to a summer camp in Louisiana. The bus driver also died. CNN's Sean Callebs reports (June 25) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION Gallery: Images from the crash scene

Members crowded the church Monday night, bringing food and participating in a blood drive.

Texas troopers are trying to find out why the bus, traveling in tandem with another bus, slammed into a concrete pillar supporting a bridge over the interstate at about 9:15 a.m. (10:15 a.m. ET), near the Kaufman-Van Zandt county line. The impact was so strong that it peeled back the metal from the side of the bus.

"Witnesses indicate that the vehicle was weaving prior to running into the guard rail. Once it hit the guard rail, it lost all control and hit the concrete pillar," said Trooper Ben Valdez of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

DPS Trooper Rob White said there were no skid marks and no indications that the bus driver attempted to stop. He said authorities did not know if the driver fell asleep but were looking at that among other possibilities.

In Ruston, leaders of the Student Life Camp, where the Texas teens were headed, decided to continue with the event.

"The truth is God was not off his throne when this happened. So what we do is we believe in that," said Roger Davis, a spokesman for the camp. "We have 1,900 other students that are here, so, in a very prayerful and sensitive way, we are going to push forward with camp and do what we can to help out this church."

-- CNN Newsource Correspondent Sean Callebs contributed to this report.