Comfort Suites owner Sherry Chaudhry heard the brakes of an SAISD school bus moments before it plunged off of Interstate 37 and into her hotel's parking lot Thursday afternoon.
"I turned around to run downstairs because I figured it was in the building," said Chaudhry, who was in her office on the fifth floor when the accident happened.
Chaudhry says her immediate concern was for the people on the bus and the guests on the first floor.
Emergency workers used fire extinguishers on the first floor of the hotel to cover gasoline and oil that was spilling from the bus.
Hotel guest Gary Gany was leaving the hotel to get dinner when he heard something hit the ground less than a hundred feet to his right.
"When I went around the corner I realized it was a school bus, and that's anyone's greatest fear," said Gany, who continued to watch crews clean up the mess hours after the accident happened.
Gany says he comforted the seven-year-old boy who was riding on the bus until paramedics arrived.
"He was scared, shaking. I kneeled down to comfort him and asked if he was hurt and he said 'no sir, I just want my mother,'" Gany said.
The boy and two adults who were also on the bus are recovering at an area hospital.
