Investigators probe Calif. tour bus crash A tour bus and big rig collided on Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, Calif., on Sunday.
13 killed in interstate collision with tractor-trailer
PALM S PRING S, CALIF. Investigators in southern California were trying to determine why a tour bus plowed into the back of a tractor-trailer on Interstate 10 early Sunday, killing 13, including the bus driver.
The crash injured 31, including the driver of the truck.
Among the deadliest bus crash- es in California in recent years, Sunday’s pre-dawn crash took place about 100 miles east of Los Angeles as California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers slowed traffic to allow utility workers to string wires across Interstate 10.
CHP Border Division Chief Jim Abele said the cause of accident wasn’t clear and that investigators “may not determine how the accident occurred” because the bus driver was killed.
But he said the bus was going significantly faster than the truck at the time of the crash.
Abele said the bus plowed 15 feet into the back of the truck in a “substantial impact.” He said it was unclear why the bus was traveling at a much faster speed than the truck.
It was also unclear whether drugs or alcohol were involved, or whether fatigue was a factor, Abele said.
“Right now we’re looking at everything,” Abele said.
He did not give the nationalities of the victims but said authorities were in contact with consular officials of Mexico, Japan and Australia.
Throughout the morning, firefighters struggled to reach victims.
The bus crashed into the big rig ’s trailer, and a tow truck was used to lift the trailer and help officials gain easier access to the demolished vehicle. Another tow truck tried to pull the truck off the bus. Firefighters positioned ladders at windows of the bus to remove victims.
The tour bus, which was carrying 44 passengers, belongs to USA Holiday, a Los Angelesbased tour company, and the driver was identified as one of its owners.
USA Holiday regularly carries passengers from the Los Angeles area to Southern California casinos. According to its Facebook page, USA Holiday has recently made trips to Tortoise Rock Casino, Red Earth Casino and Las Vegas.
According to records from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, USA Holiday owns one bus and has one driver licensed to transport passengers. In 2013, the bus logged 68,780 miles.
Abele, the CHP chief, said the agency had inspected the bus in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and found no mechanical violations. The bus was manufactured in 1996, however, and likely did not have a black box device that could provide investigators with information about what was happening on the bus in the minutes before the crash.
USA Holiday did not immediately return requests for comment.
All westbound lanes of I-10 were closed following the crash. Stuck in the traffic were Chris and Rachel Williams, who were delivering frozen chicken to Los Angeles. They were about five vehicles east of the scene and waited more than an hour.
“We’re doing good. We’re just saying our prayers for the people involved in this situation,” Chris Williams said. “This is a day that will be remembered.”
In a tweet posted Sunday afternoon, the National Transportation Safety Board said it was dispatching a team of investigators to the crash scene.