A tour bus carrying gamblers to a casino overturned along a Southern California freeway after sideswiping a car, injuring more than 50 people on board on Thursday, authorities said.
The driver made an “unsafe lane change” to the left, struck the car “and then overcorrected to the right,” California Highway Patrol Officer Elizabeth Van Valkenburgh said. The skidding bus careened through a chain-link fence and down a dirt embankment, where it came to rest on its right side between the freeway and railroad tracks.
Fifty-two people, mostly elderly, suffered minor injuries, according to doctors and fire officials. At least one passenger reported wearing a seatbelt, Van Valkenburgh said.
Many of the victims spoke only Mandarin or Cantonese and required translators. They ranged in age from 25 to 92.
Some of the passengers were able to get out on their own, while others needed to be rescued by firefighters or drivers who stopped to help, said Los Angeles County Fire Captain Brian Jordan.
The bus driver, who suffered minor injuries, was properly licensed and has not been charged, the CHP said. He was identified as Jinquan Yang, 55, of Alhambra.