One Dead, Dozens Injured in Bus Crash

One person was killed and about two dozen others injured this afternoon when a tour bus veered out of control and overturned on Interstate 15 in northern San Diego County.

The southbound coach crashed near State Route 76 in the Pala Mesa area about 2:30 p.m., leaving two lanes blocked, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Ambulances took a total of 21 victims to several North County trauma centers, NorthComm Dispatch reported. It was not immediately clear if any others were treated at the scene of the wreck and required no hospital care.

At the time of the accident, the tour vehicle, operated by Bell-based Five Star Bus Charter, was on its way from Los Angeles to Valley View Casino, CHP public-affairs Officer Jim Bettencourt told NBC San Diego.

The driver told investigators the bus was traveling at about 55 mph when it began swerving for unknown reasons and then tipped over, Bettencourt said. The freeway was wet from rainfall at the time, but it was unclear if the surface moisture was a factor in the crash, he said.

In an unusual coincidence, the accident occurred about the same time as another I-15 tour-bus wreck roughly 40 miles to the north, in Corona.

The Riverside-area crash, which left as many as 20 people injured, occurred as a passenger coach was taking a charter group from Pala Casino Spa & Resort to Westminster in Orange County.

-- City News Service