April 29, 2009 11:41 PM
- Text
At Least Five Dead In Calif. Bus Crash
(CBS/AP)
A bus carrying French tourists overturned on a central California highway overpass, killing at least five and injuring dozens of others, authorities said.
The crash, which occurred shortly before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, ejected four passengers from the vehicle, sending one over the side of the road and onto railroad tracks 60 to 70 feet below, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Brian Wiest. Luggage and bodies were strewn on U.S. 101 in Soledad, about 100 miles southeast of San Francisco.
CBS News correspondent Manuel Gallegus reports the Orion Pacific tour bus overturned near Moneterey.
"We've seen some pretty bad stuff on the road...but this is the worst we've seen in this county in some time," Wiest told Gallegus.
Maia Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services, said there were at least five confirmed deaths - three who died at the scene, including the passenger who fell to the railroad tracks, and two who later died at hospitals.
A total of 36 people had been on board, including 34 French tourists, one Canadian tour guide and an American driver, Wiest said. Nine hospitals were treating patients, including seven who were airlifted to Fresno and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Four of those injured were under the age of 18, including a 13-year-old girl who was airlifted to Fresno, Wiest said.
The driver did survive, Gallegus reports.
Jacques de Noray, a spokesman for the French consulate in San Francisco, said authorities had notified his office that the crash involved French citizens, but said he had no further details.
The tour, which had started in San Francisco, was en route to Southern California, where the tourists were due to fly out of Los Angeles back to France, Wiest said. The group made stops Tuesday in Monterey and Carmel before the crash, authorities said.
The maroon bus, bearing the name Orion Pacific, lay on its side after crashing into the guard rail on the two-lane southbound overpass.
As the bus flipped on its side, some passengers were thrown onto the roadway and some went over the railing, onto the highway below, reports CBS News correspondent Hattie Kauffman.
A person who answered the phone at Orion Pacific, which describes itself as a family-owned, luxury charter coach company based in Orange, said no one was available for comment. It was not immediately clear who had chartered the bus.
The company received a "satisfactory" rating for safety in its most recent review dated Dec. 28, 2006, according to a Department of Transportation Web site.
CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader in Sacramento could not comment on Orion Pacific's safety record pending the accident investigation. The company has been operating since 1985, according to its Web site.
The crash, which occurred shortly before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, ejected four passengers from the vehicle, sending one over the side of the road and onto railroad tracks 60 to 70 feet below, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Brian Wiest. Luggage and bodies were strewn on U.S. 101 in Soledad, about 100 miles southeast of San Francisco.
CBS News correspondent Manuel Gallegus reports the Orion Pacific tour bus overturned near Moneterey.
"We've seen some pretty bad stuff on the road...but this is the worst we've seen in this county in some time," Wiest told Gallegus.
Maia Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services, said there were at least five confirmed deaths - three who died at the scene, including the passenger who fell to the railroad tracks, and two who later died at hospitals.
A total of 36 people had been on board, including 34 French tourists, one Canadian tour guide and an American driver, Wiest said. Nine hospitals were treating patients, including seven who were airlifted to Fresno and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Four of those injured were under the age of 18, including a 13-year-old girl who was airlifted to Fresno, Wiest said.
The driver did survive, Gallegus reports.
Jacques de Noray, a spokesman for the French consulate in San Francisco, said authorities had notified his office that the crash involved French citizens, but said he had no further details.
(CBS)
The tour, which had started in San Francisco, was en route to Southern California, where the tourists were due to fly out of Los Angeles back to France, Wiest said. The group made stops Tuesday in Monterey and Carmel before the crash, authorities said.
The maroon bus, bearing the name Orion Pacific, lay on its side after crashing into the guard rail on the two-lane southbound overpass.
As the bus flipped on its side, some passengers were thrown onto the roadway and some went over the railing, onto the highway below, reports CBS News correspondent Hattie Kauffman.
A person who answered the phone at Orion Pacific, which describes itself as a family-owned, luxury charter coach company based in Orange, said no one was available for comment. It was not immediately clear who had chartered the bus.
The company received a "satisfactory" rating for safety in its most recent review dated Dec. 28, 2006, according to a Department of Transportation Web site.
CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader in Sacramento could not comment on Orion Pacific's safety record pending the accident investigation. The company has been operating since 1985, according to its Web site.
Latest Now in National
- Filmmaker Douglas Trumbull receives honorary Oscar
- Whitney Houston fans pay emotional tribute
- Hudson to honor Houston at Grammys
- Man to face Alabama trial in wife's diving death
- Whitney Houston's final performance
- Remembering Whitney Houston 1963-2012
- Screenplay for Murder
- Extra: Jimmy Siokos on Mark Twitchell
- Extra: Chris Heward's bizarre experience
- Extra: Drive with a killer
- Whitney Houston dies at 48
- Evening News Online, 02.11.12
- Video: Whitney Houston's ups and downs
- Chicago to design vehicle sticker itself
- US sex abuse lawsuit against Vatican dismissed
- American flight makes emergency landing in Ky.
- US sex abuse lawsuit against Vatican dismissed
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- Filmmaker Douglas Trumbull receives honorary Oscar
- Houston's body taken to morgue; autopsy planned
- Obama to submit his budget to Congress on Monday
- Turkish jets hit suspected rebel targets in Iraq
on Facebook
- Whitney Houston 1963-2012
- Adele sings a cappella for Anderson Cooper
- Remembering Whitney Houston 1963-2012
on CBS News
