Nine Dead as Truck Slams into Bus Carrying Teens on College Trip

[Aang 649]

t least nine people were killed on Thursday when a tour bus carrying Los Angeles-area high school students crashed in Northern California, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The students were set to visit Humboldt State University for a college tour. CHP officials first reported seven students were killed in the crash, but later would only confirm that seven passengers died and would not say if they were students.

 

The tour bus collided with a FedEx tractor trailer and Nissan Altima on Interstate 5 near Orland, Calif., about 5:40 p.m., CHP officials said.

 

 

The nine fatalities included the tour bus driver and the FedEx truck driver. Dozens more were injured.

The FedEx truck was heading south when it crossed the center line and hit the northbound bus head-on, causing the bus to erupt into flames, CHP officials said. The reason the FedEx crashed or how the Nissan Altima was involved was not clear.

The bus belonged to Silverado Stages, a tour bus company based out of San Luis Obispo.

The NBC4 I-Team found that Silverado Stages, one of the largest charter bus companies in California, has a good safety record, though the company had two crashes in the last three months. FedEx, however, has been involved in 171 accidents in California -- five of them fatal -- in the last two years

 

Nearly 50 people were on board, including the students, a few chaperones and the driver, CHP officials said. The group of students from Los Angeles and Riverside school districts was heading to Humboldt University's Spring Preview Day this weekend.

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy said several LAUSD students were on board, and at least one student who was injured called to say she was ok.

"We don’t know the exact number of LAUSD students who were on the bus, because this was not an LAUSD field trip," Deasy told NBC4. "The field trip was organized by an outside group to visit Humboldt State."

 

 

 

LAUSD spokesman Tommy Chang confirmed students from Robert F. Kennedy High School and Manual Arts High School were among those on the bus.

A parent told NBC4 her twin daughters are students at Norte Vista High School in Riverside, but they boarded two separate buses. Their mother said she couldn't get a hold of the daughter who was aboard and was desperate for information about her condition.

 

Click here for the original article: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/college-tour-tragedy/fire-engulfs-deadly-bus-crash-site-n77806

[Sora96 17,256]

That's awful.

[Lady Aleister 1,677]

Were the names released yet?

[RikuFangirl2008 1,368]

I heard about it this morning....  :sad:

Edited April 11, 2014 by RikuFangirl2008

[Ceriraye 485]

I heard last night.

It's scary, me and my class was almost on that bus.

[Aang 649]

Were the names released yet?

The names are not yet disclosed. I am deeply saddened by this event. And my thoughts and prayer are with the family's of the victims that have died. To be honest, the only thing they've disclosed is that the driver of the Fed Ex truck was killed, along with the driver of the bus. And seven students.