LOS ANGELES – A tour bus and a sport utility vehicle collided on a Los Angeles area roadway early Sunday, killing one and injuring 32 others, two critically, according to officials.
The lone occupant of the SUV perished after it caught fire just after 5 a.m. in the Hacienda Heights neighbourhood, roughly 20 miles (32 kilometres) east of downtown Los Angeles, according to a news release from the California Highway Patrol.
According to CHP Officer Zachary Salazar, 32 people were sent to hospitals, including two in critical condition. He stated that the remaining patients transferred had injuries ranging from moderate to mild.
Joe Runnel, a passenger on the bus, told KTLA-TV that people were “begging for mercy” in the seconds following the incident, which stopped two lanes of State Route 60 for hours.
“I was thrown from the back seat of the bus to the floor about three or four seats down,” Runnel told me. “Glasses were on me…” There was a lot of hollering.
According to the preliminary investigation, the SUV became disabled for unexplained reasons in a lane, and the tour bus collided with the SUV’s rear, the CHP stated. Following the incident, the bus swerved to the right across all lanes and slammed with the guardrail along the shoulder, according to the news release.
The front of the bus sustained substantial damage, including a smashed windscreen. The LA County Fire Department stated that the fire did not spread to the bus.
Salazar stated that the bus carried 63 persons, including the driver. He stated that 31 individuals were able to depart the area in a separate bus.
According to officials, the bus was travelling from the Indio section of the desert near Palm Springs to Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighbourhood. Police initially reported that the bus was coming from Morongo.
The freeway was completely reopened by late morning.
Source: One Killed, 32 Injured in Bus-SUV Collision on CA Freeway
