Terrell, Tex. ? A swaying, swerving tour bus filled with camp-bound church youths lurched from Interstate 20 and smashed into a bridge support Monday morning. Four youths and the bus driver were killed and 36 others were injured.

The impact ripped open the front of the bus where driver Ernest Sheldon Carter sat and sheared away much of the bus’s left side. The steering wheel showed the force of the crash twisted into random curves, the shaft snapped jaggedly at the base.

State troopers, at right, examine the wreckage of a bus on Interstate 20 after a fatal crash east of Terrell, Tex. Five people were killed and at least 32 were injured when the bus, transporting a group to a Louisiana church camp, slammed into a concrete pillar, shearing off part of the driver's side. The driver and four youths died in the crash.

The 9:20 a.m. CDT accident just east of Terrell killed Carter and Michelle Chaney, 14; Michael Freeman, 12; Lindsay Kimmons, 16; and Amanda Maxwell, 13.

They’d boarded the bus at Metro Church, a Garland church with about 1,200 members, less than two hours before, bound for a six-hour ride to church camp in Ruston, La.

Carter, 51, had five misdemeanor convictions for theft and evading arrest and one felony theft conviction in Dallas County, records show. Investigators found no skidmarks at the crash scene, leading them to theorize that Carter might have fallen asleep.

In Texas, bus drivers must pass the test for a commercial driver’s license, submit to random alcohol and drug tests and provide proof of good medical health every two years. The Texas Department of Public Safety could not provide details Monday on Carter’s license.

There were no seat belts on the bus, which was owned by Dallas-based Discovery Tours Unlimited of Texas Inc., but police said it wouldn’t have made any difference.

Nick Wuerz, 16, and Gustavo Mondragon, 17, first put their luggage on the bus that crashed but at the last minute changed their minds “because that other bus looked raggedy,” Nick said.

The bus, carrying more than 40 children in grades 6 through 12 and two chaperones, was one of two from Metro Church. The second, which was ahead, stopped when chaperones heard the news.

The crash came with little warning for the passengers, many of whom were asleep.

Shaken awake, drowsy students screamed as the bus’s aluminum skin tore away. The injured scrambled to escape, hauling others with them across twisted metal and shattered glass before collapsing.

“I thought it was a movie,” said Kristan Grubbs, 16, of Wylie, who suffered minor injuries. “I was talking to my friends, and I turned around and I saw this big pillar coming toward us.”

Kristan said she blacked out then, awakening later by the side of the highway, the smell of diesel fuel heavy in the air.

“Everyone was screaming, ‘Why? Why us?”‘ she said. “We just prayed before we left that we would get there safely, then smack!

“Seeing people lying there, not moving, was hard.”

As word of the crash spread, parents and friends rushed to the church, many in tears, some just holding hands and embracing.

Counselors from area churches arrived to offer prayers and other words of comfort.

Sean Burns, a deacon at Metro Church, stood in the midst of it, unable to explain.

“God’s ways are higher than our ways,” he said finally. “There’s a reason this happened. I don’t know what that reason is, but God knows.

“This is a terrible tragedy. You have youths with their whole lives in front of them cut short.”

Students on the second bus stopped at First Baptist Church of Canton, where their parents came to pick them up. Other parents and friends made their way to the crash site, where they stood on the closed highway, sobbing.

Scott Camp, senior pastor of Metro Church, visited the accident scene and traveled to hospitals in Terrell and Tyler to see the injured students.

“This was a great tragedy for our church. But I’ve also experienced the love of Christ. We’ll just get through this,” he said. “Tragedy just makes you bitter or better. The thing I’ve been most overwhelmed by is the outpouring of love from the greater Christian community.”

The eastbound lanes of Interstate 20 were closed for hours as officials searched the scene and workers pulled luggage, a black guitar case, a stray shoe and a battered Bible from the wreckage.