At least five people have died and dozens were injured in a tour bus crash in California’s Central Valley on Tuesday.
The crash occurred around 3:20 p.m. on the busy U.S. 101 highway, much of which runs along California’s coast.
According to the California Highway Patrol, the bus was traveling south from San Francisco when it struck a railing on a four-lane highway and skidded onto its side.
The bus was traveling on an overpass, and the crash ejected passengers, reportedly sending four people over the side of the overpass and onto the road below. Three people died at the scene, one died later that day at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, and a fifth person died last night in a San Jose hospital.
The driver survived, but it is not yet clear what caused the accident. It’s also not known whether any of the passengers were wearing seat belts or if that would have lessened the death toll or injuries.
The bus was a charter operated by the Orange, California-based Orion Pacific. It is believed there were 34 French citizens traveling on the bus, along with the driver and a Canadian tour guide. They had started the day in San Francisco and stopped in Monterey and Carmel; the crash took place in a rural area near Soledad, about 130 miles south of San Francisco.
This is the second major tour bus accident in California in the past year. In October, a casino-bound bus flipped over north of San Francisco, killing 10 and injuring nearly three dozen. The driver of that bus was later arrested for driving under the influence.
Another deadly bus crash in January 2008 involved a 56-passenger motorcoach in the Four Corners area of Utah. Nine people were killed and 43 others were injured. A hearing last Tuesday revealed that fatigue and speed were the likely causes, and prompted government investigators to call for increased federal regulation of the U.S. commercial bus industry.
By Sarika Chawla for PeterGreenberg.com.
Related links: San Jose Mercury News, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Monterey Herald
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