Soledad Tour Bus Accident Kills 5, More Deaths Expected

As many as 10 people may be dead and dozens more are injured after a tour bus crashed on Highway 101 in Soledad Tuesday afternoon.

The tour bus, operated by Orion Pacific out of Orange County, was carrying about 40 French tourists as it headed from San Francisco to Santa Maria. The bus flipped over while traveling across a southbound overpass in Soledad at 3:24 p.m. Passengers were ejected from the bus, some falling to the roadway below the overpass.

The Soledad tour bus crash happened just a little before 3:30 p.m., Pacific time. The Orion tour bus threw four passengers from the large tour bus, sending one passenger over the side of a bridge and on some adjacent railroad tracks about 50 feet down. News footage shows passenger baggage and reports by tour bus accident lawyers in Soledad indicate that bodies were thrown onto U.S. 101 in Soledad, California, near San Francisco to the South.

Monterey County Office of Emergency Services confirms five dead so far. Several died later at the hospital. 36 passengers were riding in the Orion tour bus, 34 being French tourists and a Canadian tour guide. The bus driver is believed to be a U.S citizen.

window.google_render_ad()The tour bus started the trip from San Francisco, and was on the way to Southern California. The French, were supposed to go to LAX and fly back to France. The Orion Pacific tour bus was thrown on the side soon after it crashed into a guard rail on the two-lane southbound overpass.

Orion Pacific is allegedly a family-operated charter bus service in the City of Orange. No one said yet who has chartered the bus that crashed in Soledad. The CHP shut down both directions of the freeway and as of this story the southbound lanes are still closed. Tour bus accident attorneys will probably be busy in this case.