DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. _ Thirteen people were killed and 31 others were injured Sunday morning when a tour bus returning from an overnight trip to a casino near the Salton Sea collided with a big-rig truck on Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, officials said.
Federal and local investigators are probing the cause of the crash, the deadliest in California in several decades. The bus slammed into the rear of the truck at a high rate of speed, and officials say the impact crushed the front third of the bus.
Most of those who died appeared to be at the front of the bus, including the driver.
"In almost 35 years, I've never been to a crash where there's been 13 confirmed fatals," said California Highway Patrol Border Division Chief Jim Abele. "It's tough ... you never get used to this."
The crash occurred at 5:17 a.m. on the westbound 10 in Desert Hot Springs as the bus carrying 44 passengers was returning to Los Angeles County, Abele said.
Identifying the victims and some survivors could take days, he said, because some were not carrying I.D. cards or were separated from their belongings when they were transported to the hospital.
Survivors told authorities they were sleeping and did not recall the moments before the crash.
"Essentially, we just don't have all the pieces to the puzzle," Abele said during a news conference Sunday afternoon. "We may not be able to determine exactly why the accident occurred because the driver has been killed."
Abele said investigators would look at whether the driver might have fallen asleep or had a heart attack, or there was a mechanical failure or some other kind of emergency situation. But he cautioned that the investigation is still in the early phase and more information is needed to know what happened.
"We may not be able to determine exactly why the accident occurred because the driver was killed," he said.
Officials had received calls from Mexican, Australian and Japanese consulates Sunday, Abele said. He said the majority of the victims were Latino.
"We're assuming many of them are from Los Angeles because that's where the bus originated," Abele said.
At Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, officials said they had to bring in Spanish-speaking translators to help communicate with the injured.
Some of the patients suffered facial trauma.
Dr. Ricard Townsend had been working his normal shift starting at 5:15 a.m. when passengers from the tour bus began to roll in.
Townsend said he hadn't seen a situation quite like this due to the high speed and slow-motion deceleration nature of the crash, leaving "unrestrained" passengers with multiple facial injuries involving soft tissue and bones.
Doctors are taking an "in-depth look for internal injuries" with plastic surgeons called in to operate, he said.
The front of the white tour bus was crumpled inward and largely destroyed by the impact with the truck trailer, suggesting the bus was traveling much faster than the truck, the CHP said, but it's too early to determine whether the driver was speeding.
By noon Sunday, the bus had been towed away, and debris including seats and passengers' purses and backpacks cleared from the road.
Bodies that had lined the side of the road in white bags were removed, two at a time, in a slow procession of coroner's vans.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive in Southern California on Monday to investigate the collision, officials said.
Desert Regional Medical Center, which has the Coachella Valley's only trauma center, received 14 adult patients, including five who were in critical condition, said public information officer Richard Ramhoff.
Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage received 11 adult patients, all with minor injuries, said public information officer Lee Rice.
John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio received five adult patients with minor injuries, including neck strain and cuts and abrasions, said nursing supervisor Stephen Williams.
The bus was operated by USA Holiday, an Alhambra-based company that owns one bus and employs one driver, according to federal records. The Desert Sun reported that the bus driver was one of the company's owners.
In the last several months, USA Holiday used Facebook and Instagram to advertise trips from the Los Angeles area to casinos across Southern California.
In one Instagram post, USA Holiday advertised a $20 bus fare from Los Angeles to the Salton Sea's Red Earth Casino, leaving at 8:30 p.m. Passengers could stay at the casino for 4 { hours and return to Los Angeles by the early morning.
According to FreightConnect, a private data provider, USA Holiday was last inspected by federal transportation officials in April of last year and received a satisfactory rating. No issues with the coach or driver were reported.
The company drove 68,780 miles in 2015, the most recent data available, federal records indicate.
Officials have not identified the bus driver, but his neighbors in Alhambra said his name was Elias Vides.
For years, Vides drove buses filled with older passengers to casinos across the Southland, said Sonia Anderson, Vides' next-door neighbor. At night, he parked the tour bus on the street.
"I hope he survived," Anderson said, examining a photo of the wreck. "I feel for his family."
Sunday's crash is among the deadliest in California history.
In Chualar in 1963, 32 Mexican farm workers who were in the Central Valley as part of a work visa program were killed when a freight train struck the flatbed truck they were riding on.
In 1976, a bus carrying a high school choir plunged off a freeway ramp near Yuba City and crashed more than 30 feet below, killing 28 students and one teacher.
And in Northern California in 2014, 10 people were killed when a FedEx truck veered across Interstate 5 near Orland and crashed into a bus carrying high school students from Los Angeles.
