2 Dead, 60 Hurt as Bus Driver Knifed

At least two people were killed and up to 60 others were injured Monday night after a passenger on a Greyhound bus out of Los Angeles attacked the driver with a knife, causing the bus to overturn west of Fresno, authorities said.

A man was arrested in a field of sagebrush near the scene of the wreck that occurred just before 9 p.m. on Interstate 5 near the Manning exit, said Fresno County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Jeff Johnson. The suspect has not been identified.

“This was not an accident,” Johnson said. “We do know there was one attacker. There may be a possible second suspect involved, but we’re not sure yet.”

As many as 10 people suffered critical or serious injuries, and up to 50 others had minor injuries, he said.

The driver, Johnson said, “was attacked in the head and throat area and was in serious or critical condition while they were treating him at the scene.”

The bus full of passengers had left Los Angeles and was en route to San Francisco, he said. The speed limit at the site is 70 mph, but it wasn’t immediately known how fast the bus was going when it careened out of control and landed on its side.

Emergency crews were flown to the scene of the crash, and the injured were being taken to hospitals by helicopter and ambulance.

David Boyd, director of emergency services at University Medical Center in Fresno, said the bus driver was taken there in serious but stable condition. Other patients were taken to hospitals in Coalinga, Madera and Hanford.

Twenty people were taken to a community center near the crash site, where they were being interviewed by investigators.

There was no word late Monday on what the motive might have been for the attack or whether there were other vehicles involved.

The bus came to rest in a remote portion of western Fresno County. Interstate 5 was closed to northbound traffic by 10 p.m. at the site of the accident along the heavily traveled north-south route. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Department was continuing its investigation late Monday.

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Time staff writer Mark Arax contributed to this report.