Patrol: 16 hurt in bus crash near Yosemite park

4/14/2013

FRESNO, Calif. — A bus carrying visitors from Yosemite National Park crashed on a main highway south of the park, leaving 16 people injured, the California Highway Patrol said today.

The bus was about 40 miles south of the park when it went off Highway 41 and over and embankment about 6 p.m. Saturday.

The patrol’s Merced dispatch office described it as a minor injury crash, and said the 16 people were taken to local hospitals.

The bus was carrying 17 people, including a driver, when the crash occurred near local road 630.

No more police information was immediately available, but the Fresno Bee quoted officers as saying the bus was returning from a visit to the park when the bus driver, who was traveling about 40 mph, lost control of the bus.

Patrol Sgt. Edward Greene said the bus rolled onto an embankment and several passengers were thrown to the driver’s side of the bus. It eventually came to a stop after hitting a tree.

“If the tree wasn’t there to stop the bus, it would have continued down the ravine,” Greene said.

The newspaper said the injured people — the majority of whom were elderly — were taken to three area hospitals with minor to moderate injuries.

The bus driver was the only one who was not hurt.