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Death Toll Reaches 13 After California Tour Bus And Big Rig Truck Crash – 31 People Reported Injured

By Janice Malcolm
Published on: 08:10 PST, Oct 23, 2016

A crash between a tour bus and a big rig truck on Interstate 10 north of Palm Springs in the early morning hours on Sunday has left 13 people dead and another 31 injured. The California freeway was shut down as bodies lay covered with blankets along the roadside.

The Riverside County Coroner’s office confirmed that the death toll for the disastrous crash had reached 13 people, while some news reports had stated that only 11 lives had been lost. The tour bus had been en route to Los Angeles from the Red Earth Casino in Salton City when the crash was reported at 5:17 a.m. The crash site was a mess of vehicle parts, with the front end of the tour bus being completely destroyed, crumbling inwards in the same manner as the back end of the trailer truck. Photographs of the scene showed that the front of the tour bus had been solidly wedged inside of the back of the trailer, and emergency workers were forced to use metal ladders to even get inside of the bus to search for other victims inside of the wreckage.

Dozens of firefighters were at the scene, struggling to reach the victims and resorting to chainsaws to break open the vehicle and make their way inside and to the front to rescue victims. It was a process made even more difficult because there was barely any room to fit inside. The crash with the big rig caused the passenger compartment of the tour bus to peel back from its undercarriage for approximately one-third of the vehicle’s length. Separating the two vehicles required a tow truck.

Authorities stated that by late Sunday morning, bodies covered with blankets along the side of the freeway was a jarring sight. According to NBC Los Angeles, the entire westbound 10 Freeway west of Indian Canyon Road had to be closed. Traffic had to be diverted off the freeway at the Indian Avenue off-ramp, and a timeline for the reopening of the lanes had not been established.

California Highway Patrol Officer Stephanie Hamilton was reluctant to give a number for those injured early in the morning as the authorities were in the process of attempting to recover victims from the tour bus. All victims had been on the bus.

“At this time, we know that there are multiple fatalities. We can’t give an amount because that number is going to change. There are approximately 31 passengers on the bus that were transported [to local hospitals] with minor to serious injuries.”

The truck driver was relatively unharmed, suffering only minor injuries, and was taken to the hospital for treatment. The other injured people were also taken to receive treatment at hospitals in the Coachella Valley. Public information officer Richard Ramhoff said that the only trauma center in Coachella Valley was the Desert Regional Medical Center, and they received 14 adult patients, five of whom were in critical condition. Lee Rice, another public information officer, reported that 11 patients, all adults, were also taken to Eisenhower Medical Center with minor injuries. The John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital received another five adult patients who were also suffering from minor injuries, including neck strain and cuts and abrasions.

The tour bus was under the operation of USA Holiday, an Alhambra-based company which federal records indicate only owns one bus and employs one driver. The Los Angeles company generally ferries people from LA to casinos in Southern California, and the Desert Sun reported that the bus driver is actually part owner of the company. The company had never been involved in an accident before.

The crash is one of the deadliest in California in recent years.

[Featured Image by LM Otero/AP Images]

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