Northern California bus crash leaves 10 dead

[October 06, 2008]  WILLIAMS, Calif. (AP) -- A casino-bound charter bus flipped over about 10 miles from its destination, ejecting passengers and crushing others as it rolled into a ditch. Ten people died and dozens of others were injured.

California Highway Patrol officials said the bus crashed at about 6:10 p.m. Sunday on a rural road near Williams -- about 60 miles north of Sacramento -- as it headed to Colusa Casino Resort from Sacramento.

California Highway Patrol Commander Fran Clader said Monday that 10 people were dead and estimated that 35 others were injured.

"It looks like they were going up to the casino to have a good time," Clader said. "Unfortunately, it resulted in tragedy."

Firefighters used flashlights and infrared sensors to search the tall grass near the overturned bus Sunday night for more possible bodies, but by early Monday were certain that they had accounted for all the victims. The mud-covered bus was pulled from the ditch and was on a large tow truck.

Just before the accident, the bus drifted to one side of the road for about half a mile before the driver "overcorrected" and swerved back. The bus rolled over, ejecting some of its passengers before it landed right side up in a ditch, CHP spokesman Patrick Landreth said.

"The roof was collapsed down, the windows were broken out, and the bus was not only rolled over onto its side, it rolled completely over," Landreth said. "It was facing the opposite direction and it was on its wheels."

Authorities had not determined the name of the charter company early Monday morning. They did not release the name of the driver.

CHP spokesman Robert Kays said the bus had a Texas license plate that was "not valid." He said other registration serial numbers also came up invalid.

"There are still several pieces of this puzzle that's missing," Kays said. "We will find out who owns the bus."

CHP dispatcher Terry Troth said no other cars appeared to be involved in the crash.

Troth said he did not know the extent of the injuries. He said emergency responders were having trouble communicating with the passengers because many spoke Lao.

Clader said helicopters took victims to several area hospitals, which authorities said included Colusa Regional Medical Center, Enloe Medical Center in Chico and UC Davis Medical Center.

The crash took place in an area of rice fields and orchards a few miles east of Interstate 5 just north of Williams.

Laura Hennum, a spokeswoman for Enloe Medical Center, said 12 victims were admitted to the hospital. She said one died, three were in critical condition and two were in serious condition. Six other patients were being evaluated Sunday night.

"We activated our disaster response center, so we have been calling in additional staff," she told the San Francisco Chronicle.

[Associated Press; By JUDY LIN]

Associated Press writer Sofia Mannos contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.