Tour bus crash in Calif. injures 52

A tour bus carrying gamblers to a casino overturned along a Southern California freeway after sideswiping a car, injuring more than 50 people on board Thursday, authorities said.

The driver made an "unsafe lane change" to the left, struck the car "and then overcorrected to the right," California Highway Patrol Officer Elizabeth Van Valkenburgh said. The skidding bus careened through a chain-link fence and down a dirt embankment, where it came to rest on its right side between the freeway and railroad tracks.

Ambulances and helicopters converged on Interstate 210 in Irwindale, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles, where firefighters laid out red, yellow and green tarps to evaluate the injured.

Fifty-two people, mostly elderly, suffered minor injuries, according to doctors and fire officials. At least one passenger reported wearing a seatbelt, Van Valkenburgh said.

Many of the victims spoke only Mandarin or Cantonese and required translators. They ranged in age from 25 to 92.

Some of the passengers were able to get out on their own, while others needed to be rescued by firefighters or drivers who stopped to help, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Brian Jordan.

The bus driver, who suffered minor injuries, was properly licensed and has not been charged, the CHP said. He was identified as Jinquan Yang, 55, of Alhambra.

A call to a phone listing for a Jinquan Yang in Alhambra went unanswered Thursday evening.

The driver whose car Yang struck was not injured.

Eight bus passengers needed immediate medical attention, including five who were flown by helicopter to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. The patients, who suffered blunt force trauma, were in guarded condition, said Dr. Leo Rodriguez.

Huntington Memorial Hospital in nearby Pasadena treated three people, including an 86-year-old man who had broken ribs. All were expected to survive, said hospital spokesman Kevin Andrus.

The accident happened on a sunny day around 10 a.m. local time The freeway's eastbound lanes were at least partially closed for about six hours.

The 2003 Van Hool bus was operated by Da Zhen Travel Agency in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park. It was heading to the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in Highland after picking up passengers in Monterey Park and San Gabriel, Van Valkenburgh said.

Da Zhen received a "satisfactory" rating during its last major review by federal inspectors, in 2010, according to U.S. Department of Transportation records.