RUNNING SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Twenty people were hospitalized, three with major injuries, after a bus carrying teens returning from a camp overturned on a winding mountain road in Southern California, authorities said Monday.
The bus with 36 people aboard crashed shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday at a curve on State Route 330 near Running Springs, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
First responders arrived to find the bus on its side, with passengers escaping through a roof hatch, said a fire department statement.
“A total of 26 patients, including three with major injuries, were treated. Of those, 20 were transported to area hospitals, all by ground ambulances,” the statement said.
Fire department photos showed victims seated on the ground in a triage area, some wearing neck braces.
The bus, carrying adults and teens, was traveling downhill back to Orange County from a camp near the tiny community of Angelus Oaks in the San Bernardino Mountains, officials said.
There was no fire or hazardous material exposure, the fire department said.
State Route 330 is a two-line highway where it curves through forest areas near Running Springs at an elevation of about 6,100 feet (1,860 meters).
The route was closed in both directions during the investigation, which was led by the California Highway Patrol.
