MANCHESTER, Tenn. — Still healing from his wounds, the Greyhound bus driver who was slashed by a passenger moments before a deadly crash told a jittery public to keep boarding buses.
"Don't let this one incident keep you from traveling by bus," Garfield Sands said from a wheelchair Thursday at the hospital where he is recovering from two 5-inch long, 2-inch deep cuts.
Sands, 53, was behind the wheel of a bus en route to Florida when a passenger stabbed him twice in the neck and tried to take control of the bus, sending it across the oncoming lanes before it toppled into a field.
A motive for the attack remains unknown.
Sands and a replacement driver crawled from the wreckage for help after Wednesday's attack, but six of the 39 passengers, including the assailant, died.
After the crash, Greyhound pulled 2,000 to 2,500 of its buses off the nation's highways, stranding some 70,000 passengers. After consulting with federal and state officials, it resumed service about seven hours later.
"The officials have assured me that they believe this tragic accident was the result of an isolated act by a single deranged individual," said Greyhound's president, Craig Lentzsch.
The FBI identified the assailant as Damir Igric, 29, a Croatian citizen, who entered the United States in Miami in March 1999 with a one-month visa. He boarded the bus in Chicago.
Igric's neighbors described him as a "nice guy" who fought in the 1991 war for Croatian independence. They told the state-run news agency HINA he later wanted to become a sailor.
Bruce Levy, the state medical examiner in Nashville, said that autopsies Thursday showed the six dead passengers likely died instantly on impact. He said toxicology reports on Igric were not ready.
The crash happened just after 4 a.m. on Interstate 24 near Manchester, 60 miles southeast of Nashville. The bus, which originated in Chicago, was headed for Orlando, Fla. At the time, most of those aboard were asleep.
During his news conference, Sands declined to talk about the attack, saying Greyhound would allow him to say more later. "They want me to hold my comments for a while."
Greyhound spokeswoman Kristen Parsley called Sands and relief driver Lawrence Payton "absolute heroes" and said the company would reward them in some way.