29 people injured, 4 seriously, when a charter bus overturns in S.F.

The bus hit the center divider and then careened across three lanes of traffic before landing on its side, a CHP officer said

SAN FRANCISCO » More than 20 people were hospitalized, including at least four who suffered major injuries, after a private charter bus overturned on Highway 101 in San Francisco on Friday, according to the California Highway Patrol and fire officials.

Investigators said Saturday that they were still trying to determine the cause of the accident but the driver was not impaired.

CHP officers, along with San Francisco firefighters, responded shortly after 8 p.m. to reports of a bus that had overturned in the southbound lanes of the highway near Cesar Chavez Street.

Fire crews had to pry open the back of the bus, and most of the passengers were able to walk out, said San Francisco fire Lt. Jonathan Baxter.

At least four people suffered serious injuries, and 25 had moderate or minor injuries, Baxter said. All 29 passengers, including the driver, were hospitalized.

The bus belongs to a private charter company, said CHP Officer Vu Williams. The passengers were traveling from San Francisco to the Peninsula for what Williams believed was a holiday party. He said he didn’t know whether anyone was drinking on board, but said investigators had ruled out impairment by the driver and he cooperated fully with investigators.

Michael Liang, a controller for Kings VIP Transportation company in San Francisco, said his company used to own the bus but sold it about one and a half years ago to an Oakland charter bus company called Charter Bros. No one answered the phone at several phone numbers listed for Charter Bros.

Witnesses told CHP officers the bus was in the far left lane of the highway when it began to fishtail before hitting the center divider. From there, it headed in the opposite direction, careening across three lanes of traffic before landing on its side, Williams said. No other vehicles were involved.

The cause was still unknown as of Saturday morning, Williams said. “We haven’t ruled out anything yet,” he said. Officers took the bus in as evidence to inspect it over the next few days, Williams said.

The accident blocked all but one lane of the highway, which wasn’t fully reopened until around 1 a.m. as a heavy-duty wrecker truck used a crane to upright the bus and get it off the road.