13 confirmed dead in southern California tour bus crash

Wind turbines near Interstate 10 in Palm Springs, California.

(Image credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

published 24 October 2016

Shortly before dawn Sunday morning, a tour bus on Interstate 10 headed to Los Angeles crashed into a tractor trailer truck, killing 13 people and injuring 31.

The bus was on its way back from the Red Earth Casino in Thermal, California, when the accident took place near Palm Springs. "The speed of the bus was so significant that when it hit the back of the big rig, the trailer, the trailer itself entered about 15 feet into the bus," California Highway Patrol Border Division Chief Jim Abele said. Abele said it's unclear at this point how fast the bus, operated by USA Holiday, was traveling. The bus driver was killed and the truck driver sustained injuries, Abele said, adding, "In 35 years, I've never seen a crash with 13 confirmed fatalities."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.