Tour Bus Crash: 11 of 13 Victims Killed Were from Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA -- More than a dozen Los Angeles families are mourning the loss of loved ones today as the 13 people killed in a tour bus crash in Palm Springs are publically identified.

All of the victims identified so far are from Los Angeles with the exception of one man from Palmdale. A memorial in honor of those killed has been growing in Koreatown, where the passengers were supposed to be dropped off after a day at a casino.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver of the charter bus slammed into a semi-truck around 5:15 a.m., leading to the tragedy. The driver was killed along with 12 others, but it's not yet known which person was the driver.
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 fatally injured were riding toward the front of the bus. According to survivors, most of the passengers were asleep when the crash occurred. It’s not known if the driver had also fallen asleep. Preliminary reports indicate there were no brake marks at the scene of the crash.

Friends of people aboard the bus brought candles and flowers to the drop- off site near Olympic Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in memory of the dead and the dozens who were injured in the Sunday morning crash.

Marta Lucero, who was among those adding to the memorial, told ABC7 one of her best friends was killed in the wreck.

"Nice lady. Many people loved her," Lucero told the station. "I am very sad, because she's like my sister."

Another woman at the memorial told KNX Newsradio that she knew the bus driver, who was among those killed, and described him as a good driver and a nice person. Another man, however, told the station that he stopped taking the casino trips because the driver had a tendency to nod off.

The cause of the crash, which occurred around 5:15 a.m. Sunday on westbound Interstate 10 west of Indian Canyon Drive, has not yet been determined. A California Highway Patrol division chief said, however, there were no signs the driver tried to brake before slamming into the rear of a big rig.

Teodulo Vides, 59, was listed as the Alhambra-based bus company USA Holiday's registered owner and sole driver, according to federal transportation records.

Bus passengers who died in the crash were identified as:

-- Yolanda Mendoza, 69, of Los Angeles;

-- Isabel Jimenez Hernandez, 66, of Los Angeles;

-- Rosa Ruiz, 53, of Los Angeles;

-- Gustavo Green, 62, of Los Angeles;

-- Zoila Aguilera, 72, of Los Angeles;

-- Milagros Gonzales, 72, of Los Angeles;

-- Conception Corvera, 57, of Palmdale;

-- Aracely Tije, 63, of Los Angeles;

-- Dora Galvez de Rodriguez, 69, of Los Angeles;

-- Elvia Sanchez, 52, of Los Angeles; and

-- Ana Gomes de Magalion, 71, of Los Angeles.

One male and female victim remained unidentified as of late this morning.

California Public Utilities Commission records indicate that Vides and the bus company were cited in a 2008 crackdown at Los Angeles International Airport for violations of state regulations.

USA Holiday had previously run gambling junkets from southeast Los Angeles County and from the Koreatown area, according to the CHP.

The bus had been inspected as late as last April and had shown no defects, CHP Border Division Chief Jim Abele said.

CHP officials said it looked at first like the bus did not leave braking skid marks before it hit a refrigerated truck trailer that was carrying food. The truck driver was not seriously injured, according to the CHP.

"Any time we have a bus hitting the back of a truck, we're going to think fatigue, or a heart attack," Abele said at a Sunday afternoon news conference in Indio.

A 12-member team from the National Transportation Safety Board was brought in Monday to begin investigating the cause of the crash, along with CHP investigators.

Abele said the force of the impact was so severe that the truck's walls intruded 15 feet back into the bus passenger compartment.

Patch staffer Renee Schiavone and City News Service contributed to this report. Image credit: Chris Tarpening/KESQ-TV. Used with permission.