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13 people killed in California tour bus crash

Posted at 12:43 PM, Oct 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-23 17:39:52-04

By Chandrika Narayan

CNN

Breaking news update, published at 3:00 p.m. MT

A tour bus that crashed into a freight truck on Sunday in Palm Springs, California, resulted in 13 fatalities and 31 injuries, California Highway Patrol Chief Jim Abele said a press conference. The driver of the bus was among those killed. The accident’s cause has not yet been determined.

Original story , published at 2:15 p.m. MT

At least 11 people are reported dead after a tour bus collided with a tractor-trailer near Palm Springs, California, early Sunday morning, officials said.

The accident happened at 5:17 a.m. local time on westbound Interstate 10, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CNN affiliate KMIR reports 13 people died and more than 30 were injured when the tour bus slammed into the big rig in North Palm Springs.

Another affiliate, KESQ, reports that at least 11 people were killed in the accident.

The Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs reported receiving 14 patients early Sunday. Five were in critical condition while 3 were in serious condition, the hospital said.

Early videos from the scene shows dozens of firefighters with ladders inside the mangled remains of the tour bus, struggling to reach the victims.

KESQ reported that rescuers also used a crane to search the wreckage.

The California Highway Patrol told KESQ the bus was owned by a Los Angeles company, USA Holiday. The California Highway Patrol told KESQ that the company’s owner, who was driving the bus at the time, was not injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a tweet Sunday that investigators were heading to the crash scene.

The California Highway Patrol said the highway will be closed for several hours.

Sunday’s crash may be among the deadliest in California in recent years.

Ten people were killed in April 2014 when a FedEx tractor-trailer crossed a median on Interstate 5 north of Sacramento and slammed into a bus carrying high school students from Los Angeles on their way to visit a college campus.

CNN’s Darran Simon contributed to this story.

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