California Tour Bus Crash: 13 Dead, 31 Injured in Bus-Big Rig Collision Near Palm Springs (UPDATE)

• UPDATE: 11 of 13 Victims ID'd in Deadly California Tour Bus Crash

PALM SPRINGS, CA — A tour bus carrying casino-goers crashed into the back of a big rig pulling a trailer along Interstate 10 early Sunday morning near Palm Springs, killing 13 people, including the driver of the bus, and injuring two dozen more.

The crash occurred around 5:15 a.m. on the westbound side of the freeway, west of Indian Avenue. The bus was traveling fast enough that at least 15 feet of the trailer ended up in the bus, Jim Abele, chief of the California Highway Patrol Border division, told reporters at a press conference.

All the victims are believed to be adults. Several victims have yet to be identified. Abele said he is hoping family members come forward by calling the Riverside County coroner's family assistance number at 951-443-2300. The bus was carrying 48 passengers traveling to Los Angeles from the Red Earth Casino in Salton City.

Some survivors told authorities all passengers on board were asleep at the time of the crash. The 31 people injured in the crash were taken to local hospitals and are said to have minor to moderate injuries.

The bus is licensed to USA Holiday Bus, based in Los Angeles. Based on CHP records, the company apparently owns only one bus, Abele said. The 1996 model bus has passed safety inspections the past three years, with the latest inspection in April 2016.

Investigators will try to determine whether the driver was fatigued or under the influence of drugs or alcohol or whether something else was responsible for the crash. Asked if the bus was going over the speed limit, Abele would not comment but said the speed of the bus was far faster than that of the big rig. The big rig was moving at a slower pace due to traffic breaks along the highway for maintenance work, Abele said, stressing that the semi was not obstructing traffic. Information on how fast traffic was going on the highway at the time is not known. In a press release sent out after the news conference, CHP officials said the big rig was traveling at 5 miles per hour.

The driver of the big rig suffered minor injuries.

Investigators are hopeful they can recover a data recorder from the bus. Given the age of the bus, however, it's possible no such device was on board.

Footage from the scene shows a mangled tour bus, which crashed into the back of the semi-truck.

"The intrusion into the bus compartment is significant," CHP officer Stephanie Hamilton said when the crash was first reported.

Abele said he hadn't ever been to the scene of the crash where there were 13 confirmed fatalities.

"It's tough, it never gets easier," he said, promising the victims' families that investigators would do everything they can to find the cause of the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board is launching a "go team" that will assist in the investigation. A go team is tasked with investigating major accidents, able to quickly assemble needed technical expertise.

Pictures from the scene showed firefighters using ladders to get into the passenger compartment of the bus, which had been peeled back from the vehicle's undercarriage about one third of its length.

The CHP closed all westbound lanes of the interstate at Indian Canyon for approximately 11 hours. Around 4 p.m., the lanes had reopened, but traffic was still moving slowly in the area.

By Renee Schiavone and Feroze Dhanoa

Image credit: Chris Tarpening/KESQ-TV. Used with permission.

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