Tour Bus Carrying Children Catches Fire In Walnut Creek, 7 Hurt

WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) -- Up to seven people were transported to the hospital after a bus carrying children caught on fire Saturday evening on Interstate Highway 680 in Walnut Creek, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP Officer William Ogilvie said officers responded at 8:33 p.m. to a report of a car fire in the southbound lanes of Highway 680 just south of South Main Street.

As of around 11:00 p.m., Ogilvie said up to seven people were transported to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.

He said sheriff's deputies were the first to respond to the scene. The deputies relayed information about passengers who had been hospitalized but CHP officers have not yet confirmed that information, Ogilvie said.

Ogilvie said he did not know whether the people transported were children or adults.

According to witness accounts, Ogilvie said the bus's wheel well caught on fire and the children were able to get off the bus.

No lanes are blocked, he said.