A tour bus carrying 32 passengers was involved in a crash with a big rig and two other vehicles in California early Wednesday morning, leaving four dead.
According to the California Highway Patrol, a truck carrying metal pipes jackknifed around 2 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 10 near Blythe, Calif. near the Arizona border, sending the cargo flying into the adjacent lane of traffic. “The pipes subsequently caused some of the vehicles to crash into them in the eastbound lanes and it appears they could have rolled into westbound traffic which is where the bus was traveling,” said Terri Kasinga of Caltrans.
The bus collided with the pipes and then ran off the road by 40 to 50 feet, before falling down an embankment and landing on its side.
Update: Scene video of the bus crash near California-Arizona border: http://t.co/qiW2VlqFwO pic.twitter.com/KcmWTKkfiH
— KFOX News (@KFOX14) May 21, 2014
Among the survivors is a 12-day-old infant, who was unscathed.
12 day old baby survives deadly Blythe bus crash without a scratch.. the dramatic details on [email protected] @NBCLA pic.twitter.com/BoIGQsWFIb
— Tony Shin (@TonyNBCLA) May 21, 2014
The initial investigation of the crash has revealed that the driver of the bus swerved to avoid the falling pipes, causing him to lose control. The tour bus is operated by El Paso-Los Angeles Limousine Express.
Passenger Caesar Castillo commented, “I hit the ceiling and when I came back down, I landed on top of a guy that was dead. This is the blood that I have, his blood, on me. I’m freaking out and everybody’s screaming and I’m like, alright, we gotta get out of here.” Twenty-one passengers were transported to area hospitals, with six being medvaced.
The Blythe crash comes a little over a month after a fiery Los Angeles bus crash left 10 dead.
Traffic is slowly moving again on Interstate 10.
Eastbound lanes of interstate 10 open again after deadly Blythe bus crash.. westbound still closed [email protected] @NBCLA pic.twitter.com/TKbeiHLoxC
— Tony Shin (@TonyNBCLA) May 21, 2014
Image via YouTube