The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced that it had launched an investigation into the horrific tour bus accident which killed 13 and injured at least 31 others this past Sunday morning, October 23, 1016, at approximately 5:17 a.m. in Desert Hot Springs, California.
The NTSB has sent a “Go To Team” to Desert Hot Springs to investigate the causes of this collision. For more information about the NTSB, simply click here.
The tour bus, allegedly owned and operated by USA Holiday, was returning from the Red Earth Casino in Thermal near the Salton Sea, traveling westbound on the I10 Freeway, with its destination in Los Angeles, in the Koreatown area, at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. Many of its passengers were asleep when the tour bus allegedly rammed into and crashed into the rear of a big rig truck. Apparently the tour bus was traveling so fast and the impact was so violent that one-third of the bus was crushed.
Some of the passengers on the tour bus have been identified as Ana Car (age 61), and it also was reported that Rosalba Ruiz (a 53 year old mother of three and grandmother of five) and the bus driver, Elias Vides, were killed in this terrible crash. We offer our most sincere condolences to the victims and their families.
Reportedly, of the 13 fatalities, ten were women and three were men, according to the Riverside County coroner’s office.
USA Holiday apparently owns just this one tour bus, which reportedly passed its last inspection.
In addition to issues of traveling too fast for conditions, inattentiveness and maintenance, there are issues as to whether the big rig truck did anything to cause this collision.
Further, it was reported that Southern California Edison (SCE) was working with electrical wires that crossed the I10 freeway, and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) was working to slow and stop traffic as needed.
Investigation into the causes of this terrible crash will need to be very thorough and include any liability or responsibility of USA Holiday, SCE and possibly the CHP.
Our California Personal Injury and Wrongful Death attorneys are available to counsel any victims and their families. Our office members speak several languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog and Portuguese.
Our attorneys and law offices handle numerous cases in Riverside, Los Angeles and all over California, including recently handling and settling a very serious bus accident collision case which resulted in multiple deaths and serious injuries that occurred in Northern California.
Our consultation is always free and if we take the case we work on a contingency fee which means there is NO fee until our client’s win.
We have over 45 years of experience and have successfully resolved thousands of injury cases.
Please contact us now for a free consultation at 1.866 INJURY 2 or 1.818.222.3400. Thank you.