 
|
|
|
Page 1
|
|
|
"When a bucket turns into a toilet, Dryden turns into Butt-Head ...
|
|
|
Page 2
|
|
|
"I heard somebody say, 'I think he's dead' " ...
|
|
|
Page 3
|
|
|
Ambulances arrive and almost make things worse ...
|
|
|
Initial News Report
|
|
|
Alien Ant Farm Injured In Bus Accident
|
|
|
Photo Galleries
|
|
|
Alien Ant Farm's Bus Accident Photos
|
|
|
Alien Ant Farm's "These Days" Video Shoot
|
|
|
|
|
|
Browse Bands by Name
|
|
Or enter a band name below to search:
|
 Bands Main
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last year Alien Ant Farm were riding high on the success of ANThology, its breakout cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" and follow-up hit "Movies." Wrapping up a European tour, the band was on its way from Luxembourg to Lisbon, Portugal — a lengthy drive that passes through most of France and part of Spain.
"We had been in [the bus] for like a day," Cosgrove explained. "We had two drivers. The first driver did his full shift, 10 hours or something, so we stopped in Madrid and the other guy, Chris, took the next shift. It's like when you're driving from the East Coast to the West Coast [of the United States]. It just seems like forever. You're just sitting there. It's numbing."
As the double-decker tour bus passed through Caceres, Spain, Mitchell picked up a guitar and started fiddling around near the steps to the upper level. David Zajic, a friend from the Czech Republic who worked as the band's head of security, played video games. Corso and Zamora were in their bunks.
"You can't really see out a window or see anything coming; you're kind of just in a dark box," said Corso, who had dozed off, phone in hand, after leaving a message for his girlfriend back home. Zamora was chatting on his own cell phone with his fiancee.
Then, for reasons that may never be clear, the bus slammed into the back of a truck.
"It felt like something fell on top of the bus," said Cosgrove, who was walking from his bunk to the back when it happened. "I flew pretty much the length of the bus, headfirst" down the narrow, metal-plated hallway.
Zamora's fiancee, still on the line, listened in horror as it happened.
"I just told her I had to go, [because] we had to use the telephone as a flashlight," said the bassist, whose foot was injured. "It was pitch dark in there."
Because he had dozed off without hanging up, Corso's cell phone was still transmitting everything to his girlfriend's voicemail.[Click to listen]
"She got the [sounds] of the crash, pretty much all the aftermath, the shouting," he said. "I had a pretty hysterical girlfriend to deal with when I finally got her on the phone."
Corso's ankle was broken. Cosgrove suffered only cuts and bruises. But Mitchell had fallen onto a step, landing on his neck and injuring his spine. Zajic went headfirst into the television set, breaking nearly every bone in his face. And the driver, 26-year-old Christopher Holland, was dead.
"When I first came out of the bus, I went around to see if [Chris] was all right," Zamora said. "And he was pushed back. And he looked ..." Zamora sighed as he remembered the details. "He was in pretty bad shape. I knew he was lights out."
"I heard somebody say, 'I think he's dead,' " Corso said. "And that's when I started getting really shock-y."
All Mitchell could hear was talking and commotion. "I never really went unconscious, [but] my vision went away for a second, and then [there was] this overwhelming feeling, like when your foot falls asleep, from your head to your toes, but a lot stronger. I couldn't move my toes or fingers."
"It was weird, my head just got really calm," he continued. "[You would imagine that] the thoughts you'd think when that happened would be horrific, but I just kept thinking, like, I couldn't believe how easy it was to get paralyzed. That's all I was thinking."
|
|
|
|
Photo: DreamWorks
|
|
|
|
|
