A tragic accident occurred on a Los Angeles freeway early Sunday, resulting in one fatality and 32 individuals taken to hospitals. This incident involved a tour bus and an SUV that had broken down on State Route 60.
According to officials from Los Angeles County, the collision happened around 5 a.m. local time, near Hacienda Heights, which is just east of downtown Los Angeles. Officer Zachary Salazar, a spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol (CHP), noted that the tour bus was on its way to Koreatown in downtown Los Angeles when the crash took place.
The tour bus, carrying a total of 63 passengers, collided with a Nissan Pathfinder that was disabled in the westbound lane. Following this collision, the SUV caught fire.
The driver of the Nissan, whose identity has not been released, tragically died at the scene after being trapped in the burning vehicle. Fortunately, the fire did not spread to the bus, but 32 of the passengers sustained injuries and required medical attention.
Initial investigations by the CHP suggest that the bus driver, identified as Sui Sheng Du, struck the rear of the stalled SUV. The impact caused the Nissan to become fully engulfed in flames, trapping its sole occupant.
After the collision, the bus veered across multiple lanes before hitting a metal and wood guardrail on the right shoulder. According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, two passengers from the bus are in critical condition, with others sustaining a range of injuries from minor to serious.
Salazar added that the reason the SUV became disabled remains unclear, although there was no indication of drugs or alcohol being involved in the crash.
