Calif. Tour Bus Crashes with Big Rig, 13 Dead

Oct. 23--REPORTING FROM DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. -- Thirteen people were killed and 31 others were injured Sunday morning when a tour bus collided with a big-rig truck on the Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, officials said.

The bus, operated by USA Holiday, slammed into a truck on the westbound 10 at 5:17 a.m. Sunday, said Jim Abele, a chief with the California Highway Patrol. The driver of the bus was among the dead, he said.

Identities of other victims, as well as survivors, are still unknown, "largely due to the swift extraction and immediate triage that they needed," Abele said.

The front of the tour bus was crumpled inward and the back of the truck trailer was destroyed in the crash.

Shortly after the wreck, which occurred just after 5 a.m., firefighters used ladders to climb into the bus to search for bodies and survivors.

By noon Sunday, the tour bus had been hauled away, and workers swept and carried debris from the road. Several bus seats that had been scattered on the freeway were taken away. Nearby, an official packed purses and backpacks into brown paper bags.

Bodies that had lined the side of the road in white bags were removed, two at a time, in a slow procession of coroner's vans. The Riverside County Coroner's office would not confirm the number of fatalities.

A team from the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the collision, agency officials said.

More than three dozen people were on the bus, which may have been returning from the Red Earth Casino near the Salton Sea, the Desert Sun reported. An operator who answered the phone at the casino declined to comment.

Desert Regional Medical Center, which has the Coachella Valley's only trauma center, received 14 adult patients, including five who were in critical condition, said public information officer Richard Ramhoff.

Eisenhower Medical Center received 11 adult patients, all with minor injuries, said public information officer Lee Rice.

John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital received five adult patients with minor injuries, including neck strain and cuts and abrasions, said nursing supervisor Stephen Williams.

The bus was operated by USA Holiday, an Alhambra-based company that owns one bus and employs one driver, according to federal records.

The Desert Sun reported that the bus driver was one of the company's owners.

A woman who answered the phone at USA Holiday told The Times that she was the daughter of the owner. She said she did not know how many people had been killed or whether the driver had survived.

In the last several months, USA Holiday has used Facebook and Instagram to advertise trips from Koreatown, the San Fernando Valley and Southeast Los Angeles to casinos across Southern California.

In one Instagram post, USA Holiday advertised a $20 bus fare from Koreatown to the Red Earth Casino, leaving at 8:30 p.m. three days per week. Passengers could stay at the casino for 4 1/2 hours and return to the L.A. area by the early morning.

According to FreightConnect, a private data provider, USA Holiday was last inspected by federal transportation officials in April of last year and received a satisfactory rating. No issues with the coach or driver were reported.

The company drove 68,780 miles in 2015, the most recent data available, federal records indicate.

The bus company's owner is Elias Vides, according to his neighbors in Alhambra.

For years, Vides drove buses filled with older Asian American passengers to casinos across the Southland, said Sonia Anderson, Vides' next-door neighbor. At night, he parked the tour bus on the street.

"I hope he survived," Anderson said, examining a photo of the wreck. "I feel for his family."

With 11 reported fatalities, Sunday's crash would be among the deadliest in California history.

The deadliest occurred in Chualar in 1963, when a freight train struck a flatbed truck carrying 32 Mexican farm workers who were in the Central Valley as part of a work visa program.

Thirteen years later, in 1976, a bus carrying a high school choir plunged off a freeway ramp near Yuba City and crashed more than 30 feet below, killing 28 students and one teacher.

And in Northern California in 2014, 10 people were killed when a FedEx truck veered across Interstate 5 near Orland and crashed into a bus carrying high school students from Los Angeles.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed reporting.

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UPDATES:

1:40 p.m. This story was updated to include an interview with the bus operator's neighbor.

1:20 p.m. This story was updated to include information on the National Transportation Safety Board.

12:20 p.m. This story has been updated throughout, including more details from the scene and information on other deadly bus crashes in California.

11:33 a.m. This story was updated to include a request for comment from Red Earth Casino.

10:50 a.m. This story was updated to include details on patients transported to local hospitals.

10:30 a.m. This story was updated to include an interview with a USA Holiday representative.

10:12 a.m. This story was updated to include details on the crash location, the bus company's previous trips, and more details from the scene.

9:51 a.m. This story was updated to include more details from the scene and information on the tour bus company.

9:40 a.m. This story was updated with a higher fatality count and descriptions from the scene of the crash.

This story was originally published at 8:40 a.m.

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