LOCAL : 14 Aboard S.F. Tour Bus Hurt as It Stalls, Rolls Backward Into Ditch

Fourteen people on a tour bus returning to the San Fernando Valley were injured after the bus stalled near Palmdale, then rolled into a ditch when the driver attempted to move it out of traffic, the California Highway Patrol said this morning.

The accident occurred at 9:30 p.m. Sunday when the Valley Travel of Van Nuys bus stalled while returning from Las Vegas, said Officer Gil Torres. The injuries ranged from minor to moderate, with 11 people treated at local hospitals, he said.

The bus, driven by Barbara J. Loving, 45, of Agua Dulce and carrying 40 senior citizens from the Valley, developed engine problems and pulled off the Antelope Valley Freeway at the Sierra Highway exit south of Palmdale before stalling on a transition road, Torres said.

After CHP officers arrived, Loving attempted to roll the bus backward out of the traffic lane, Torres said. “In doing so she went off the road and back into a five- to six-foot deep ditch,” Torres said.

The bus remained upright, but the jolt of the drop into the ditch injured several passengers. After being treated on the scene by paramedics, 11 were taken to Palmdale Hospital Medical Center and Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster for further treatment.

A spokesman for Valley Travel, who would not give his name, said Loving rolled the bus backward at the order of a CHP officer. However, the spokesman said, the bus brakes would not have been operable because the bus engine, which provides air for the brake system, was stalled.

Torres said the accident is under investigation and acknowledged that the bus may have been moved at the direction of CHP officers on the scene.