Eight killed in tour bus accident in California

At least eight people died after a tour bus crashed in Southern California Sunday night. Another 38 are injured.

CBS News reports that the bus was going down a mountain road when it went out of control, hitting a car and flipped over. It then struck a pickup truck, leaving debris all over State Route 38. the accident occurred 80 miles east of LA at 6:30 p.m.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Mario Lopez said the bus was on its way back to Tijuana, Mexico.

According to The LA Times, Lopez confirmed that all the fatalities were passengers on the bus.

“It happened so fast I don't know how it all happened. This was supposed to be a good day out with my companions and then this happened,” a passenger told The San Bernardino Sun.

The California Department of Transportation told KCBS that a rep for the Mexican consulate had arrived. Caltrans spokeswoman Michelle Profant added that the scene was “really a mess up there with body parts.”

Firefighters say that it took them over two hours just to pull all of the injured passengers from the wreckage. Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department told the LA Times that the investigation into the cause hasn’t started yet, since “patient treatment and transport takes priority.”

However, the driver did survive, telling investigators that the bus had problems with the brakes.

Scapadas Magicas LLC, which operated the tour bus, has not commented on the crash yet.

The injured passengers have been taken to area hospitals for treatment.