Remembering the victims of the deadly Alton bus crash 35 years later
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Saturday marked 35 years since the deadly Alton bus crash, where 21 Mission Consolidated Independent School District students died in the tragic incident.
A memorial lined with 21 crosses, freshly adorned with bows and ribbons to signify the latest anniversary of the deadly crash.
Years later, the memory is still alive for people who grew up in Alton, like Abigail Santillana.
"I remember my mom talking with me about it and I remember I was young, probably around his age, my cousin's age. It left a big impact on me," Santillana said.
An impact that is still with the community today.
A Dr. Pepper truck ran through a stop sign and sent the Mission CISD school bus filled with 81 passengers flying 40-feet into a caliche pit filled with water; 21 students didn't survive.
Santillana says that her mother knew a survivor of the accident.
"Fortunately, you know my mom, she knew of someone who was able to get out of that incident, and I am grateful for that, but of course, still have to give remembrance to those who weren't able to make it," Santillana said.
Keeping the 21 Mission CISD student's memory alive is in part what author Juan Carmona echoes is important.
"If we don't tell these stories, they get forgotten and the memory of those 21 should never be forgotten or the rest of the kids that were on that bus," Carmona said. "The reason things are safer now are because students just like them didn't make it home."
A message that Santillana wanted to share with her younger cousin, who is around the same age as the victims.
"My cousin doesn't know too much of the history and I thought, you know what, let me bring him over here and kind of tell him about the story," Santillana said. "So just giving the remembrance is so important to give back to this community."
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