Bus headed for Pasco crashes in California; 5 dead

A bus carrying travelers from Mexico was ripped open early Tuesday when it crashed into a highway signage pole south of Livingston, Calif., killing five people and injuring several others in a scene described as having “a tremendous amount of carnage.”

The bus was carrying about 30 people when it veered off Highway 99 and crashed just after 3:30 a.m., the California Highway Patrol reported. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

The passenger bus, registered to Autobuses Coordinados USA, Inc., of Los Angeles, was traveling between the Mexican state of Nayarit and Pasco, Washington, according to agents of the bus company in Mexico who declined to give their names to the Sun-Star because they were not authorized to speak to a reporter.

One survivor, 12-year-old Jennifer Rivera, told the Sun-Star she had been sleeping when she suddenly awoke to the noise of the crash and then people crying.

“It was just me and my uncles,” the girl said in Spanish, speaking outside the CHP office in Atwater hours after the crash. “I don’t know what happened to them. They were hurt and battered.”

“Thank God I was OK,” Rivera said, adding that she had scratches and pain on the back of her head and in her back. The petite girl, wearing a red T-shirt and her hair in a braid, said she was born in the United States but had been living in Nayarit and was returning to the U.S. to study.

The collision caused the large signage pole to plow through the front of the bus, slicing through several rows of seats before hitting the back axle. Six people who sustained major injuries were airlifted to hospitals in Modesto and Turlock; other victims also were taken to Mercy hospital in Merced, CHP Office Moises Onsurez said.

Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said he saw blood on the side of the bus and there were so many people injured that the first two ambulances on the scene ran out of tourniquets.

A deputy coroner who is a former Marine told Warnke the scene reminded him of buses he’d seen that had been bombed, the sheriff said.

“There’s a tremendous amount of carnage here — a very, very nasty accident,” Warnke told the Sun-Star.

“When I first got there, I could hear people screaming from inside of the bus,” Warnke said. “Several people had been ejected and were lying in the ditch. It was harder to get to them immediately because of the amount of diesel fuel that had spilled.”

Many of the people injured had limbs that were partially or mostly severed, Warnke said. “Fire department personnel were inside the bus collecting as many body parts as possible for the coroner to identify,” he said.

The driver of the bus was identified as Mario David Vasquez, 57, of the Los Angeles area, according to Onsurez. Vasquez was among the people who suffered major injuries. He remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon, the CHP said.

Several people were trapped in the bus for hours before emergency responders were able to rescue them.

Carin Sarkis, a spokeswoman for Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, said it received two males in critical condition, a female in critical condition and two females in serious condition. A male patient in fair condition was transferred to the hospital and a second transfer was expected, she said.

Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock said one patient was transferred to Modesto and three others were treated and released. Memorial Medical Center in Modesto said it received four patients, all in fair condition.

Passengers who weren’t sent to hospitals were taken to the CHP office in Atwater, where they met with representatives of the Mexican Consul. The consul officials spent nearly an hour in the office and declined to speak to the Sun-Star as they left.

Autobuses Coordinados advertises that it travels between Mexico and Washington with stops including Los Angeles, Fresno, Modesto, Sacramento, and Oregon. The bus had been in Los Angeles late Monday and was scheduled to make its next stop in Livingston, according to the CHP.

A woman who answered the phone at the office of Autobuses Coordinados USA said she had no information and was not authorized to speak on behalf of the company.

An inspection report conducted in California on April 28 shows the bus involved in Tuesday’s crash had been cited for three violations, including having prohibited aisle seats; parts and accessories violations; and a maintenance violation, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation records.

Northbound Highway 99, a main artery for the San Joaquin Valley, remained closed into Tuesday afternoon and traffic was diverted to other roadways. Southbound Highway 99 remained open but the CHP advised morning commuters to use Highway 140 instead.

The pole holding the large highway exit sign withstood the impact of the crash and stuck out from the crumpled remains of the bus.

Some highway signs, like those listing the speed limit, have support poles designed with points that break away during a crash. But the poles supporting the much larger overhead signs are designed to “stay put,” Vanessa Wiseman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, told The Associated Press.

She said the pole involved in Tuesday’s crash had the required barrier — in this case, a guardrail — on the side facing lanes, the AP reported.

Onsurez told the Sun-Star that crews were “working on dismantling the sign, then they’ll remove the bus.”

This story was originally published August 2, 2016 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Bus headed for Pasco crashes in California; 5 dead."