911 calls convey panic, chaos after fatal bus crash
Emergency 911 calls released Thursday by the CHP convey chaos and confusion in the moments after a FedEx truck collided head-on with a tour bus full of students, killing 10 people.
In one of the calls, from a passenger who had just fled the burning bus, the caller sounds panicked and confused.
“I was in a car accident,” the caller begins, crying and gasping for air. “I was on a travel bus and we crashed into a FedEx truck.”
“Are you still on the bus or off the bus?” the dispatcher asks, after assuring the caller the California Highway Patrol and ambulances were on their way.
“We’re off the bus, the bus is on fire!” the caller replies, as cries and screams from other students are heard in the background.
“Go as far away as you can safely get,” the dispatcher advises.
“The bus hit the FedEx truck,” the caller continues. “The truck hit into us.”
In the few minutes after the crash, as students were kicking out windows to escape the fiery wreckage, there seemed to be some confusion about what had happened and where the collision had taken place.
Multiple callers reported seeing and hearing “a bus explode” and flames coming from the vehicles.
“We have massive fire. We have all kinds of students out here on the highway right now. It was a tour bus,” said one man who called to report the incident, while dispatchers assured him help was on the way. “I just saw the FedEx truck go across the median and crash.”
The calls were released as CHP officials continue investigating the cause of the crash, conducting simulations on a similar stretch of Interstate 5 with vehicles identical to the tour bus and FedEx truck in the April 10 collision.
Both drivers were killed, along with five Southern California high school students on their way to Humboldt State for a college visit, and three adult chaperons.
Dozens more were taken to hospitals with injuries, but all had been released by Wednesday afternoon.
It could be weeks before causes of death are determined for the 10 fatalities and months before the National Transportation Safety Board or CHP are able to determine what caused the FedEx truck to cross a grassy median and hit the tour bus head-on.
Twitter: @cmaiduc
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