We are heartbroken
The LA Times has a team covering updates on the tragic crash.
Here’s a clip:
Hours after a deadly head-on collision here claimed the lives of at least nine people and injured dozens more, skid marks from the charter bus carrying L.A.-area high school students extended nearly 100 yards down the pavement.
The hulk of the charred bus sat nose down in a ditch, pressed against a mangled small white car.
Shortly after 5:30 p.m. Thursday, a FedEx truck crossed the grassy median that separates Interstate 5 here and slammed into the bus packed with students en route to visit Humboldt State University, about 200 miles north of the crash site.
The impact, which sounded like a series of explosions to witnesses, sent both vehicles exploding into flames. The fireball and towering black smoke was captured by the cell phone cameras of others in nearby cars.
California Highway Patrol officials said the dead included the drivers of both the bus, operated by Silverado Stages, and the FedEx truck.
The identities of the others killed were not immediately known. CHP Officer Tracy Hoover said in addition to the students from the Los Angeles area the bus passengers included several chaperones.
And here are live updates from the scene.
MEANWHILE, THE BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION ON FOSTER CARE SAYS LA COUNTY SYSTEM IS IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY
All the details on Monday. In the meantime, here’s Rina Palta’s report on the report for KPCC.