In the wake of Saturday morning’s bus accident on Interstate 20 that killed eight people and injured at least 30 more, Warren County officials are working to aid those passengers stranded as a result of the crash.

Saturday morning, Warren County Board of Supervisors President Kelle Barfield said county officials, Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) and the Baptist Association are working together to provide aid to passengers. Merit Health River Region hospital has been converted into a “sequester location,” Barifield said, where passengers can receive food and will have a place to stay while awaiting further instruction from officials.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said it did not appear any of the passengers killed in the crash of the charter bus were from Mississippi. Their names have not been released. No information on where the bus was traveling to or from has been released.

“Merit Health has been gracious in opening their cafeteria,” Barfield said. “It’s a safe, dry place where they can have a meal and wait and a place for people who were treated in Hinds County to come. The next step is for the bus company to send a replacement vehicle that should be arriving here later this afternoon.”

Barfield said MHP and county officials are also working to retrieve passengers’ luggage from the wreckage of the bus that overturned just after 1 a.m. around a mile west of the Bovina exit.

“It is yet another example of the incredible coming together of resources in this community to respond to emergencies and tragedies,” Barfield said. “We all hope these tragedies never occur, but when they do, we are absolutely well provided for by our emergency responders and others.”

The cause of Saturday’s accident is still unknown and the names of the deceased have not yet been released.

More information will be released as it is made available by MHP.