Bus Crash.... Killing eight people and injuring dozen more...
Posted on: Mon, Oct 06, 2008; 9:34 AM
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Bus Crash.... Killing eight people and injuring dozen more...
Driver in fatal bus crash arrested on DUI charges
By Niesha Lofing, Andy Furillo and Sam Stanton - afurillo@sacbee.com
Last Updated 9:44 am PDT Monday, October 6, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A12
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Emergency personnel rush a victim to an ambulance at the scene of a charter bus accident Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008 on a rural two lane road near Williams, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008. At least 10 people died and several were injured in the crash north of Sacramento on Lone Star Road south of Highway 20 in Colusa County, Calif.
Chris Kaufman / AP
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The driver of a bus that crashed Sunday, killing eight people and injuring dozens more, was driving under the influence, the California Highway Patrol said.
Quienten Joey Watts, 52, of Stockton, is in critical condition in Woodland Memorial Hospital, one of 35 people authorities say were hurt in the crash of a bus that was traveling from Sacramento to the Colusa Casino, a gaming establishment in rural Colusa County, near Williams.
Watts was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, said CHP Sgt. Brian Donnelly. It is unclear whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, he said.
He will be jailed upon his release from the hospital, he said.
Watts was arrested based on observations a witness made before the crash, Donnelly said.
"He was driving erratically," he said. "The bus basically veered off the road for no reason."
Watts' driver's license is valid, but the paperwork on the bus is not, Donnelly said.
An investigation into the bus, owned by Daniel E. Cobb Sr., 68, of Sacramento, continues today, he said.
CHP Special Officer Robert B. Kays said at the crash scene early today that the bus had Texas license plates and had an invalid registration. The muddled registration information impeded the CHP in determining the bus' owner before Cobb was identified.
Cobb owns Beeline Tours, on Franklin Boulevard, and Cobbs Bus Service, a limited liability company on Den Avenue, public records show.
Cobbs Bus Service has a legal filing in the California Secretary of State's office from September 2006 for a "dishonored check," public records show.
On Thursday, Cobb posted an ad on a free local classified advertising Web site seeking a charter bus driver.
"Charter Bus Driver position available, works is full or part-time. The business is within a 100 mile radius, only duties required is driving," the ad on http://sacramento.kijiji.com states.
When The Bee attempted to call the number posted, a message on the voicemail said that Cobb's inbox was full.
Wreckage was cleared from the crash site at 5:35 a.m. today, opening Lone Star Lane, a two-lane road that is a favorite shortcut from Interstate 5 to the casino.
The bus was full of Laotian Hmong heading to Colusa Casino Resort, Sgt. Donnelly said.
Authorities have identified several of the eight people who died, but cannot yet release their identities, he said.
About two-thirds of the crash victims had to be rescued from the bus.
Many had cuts, broken bones and internal injuries, he said.
"They were just basically beat up from the wreck itself," he said. "There was a lot of metal debris and glass."
Donnelly said Colusa County is no stranger to bad car crashes, but Sunday's bus crash was horrific.
"It was, by far, the worst I have ever seen," he said.
Don Kennedy, marketing director at Colusa Casino Resort, said the casino was not expecting the bus Sunday.
Casino officials said in a written statement that the bus involved in the crash "was not scheduled to bring guests to our facility."
"The Colusa Casino Resort is stunned and saddened by this tragic bus accident that has resulted in several deaths and serious injuries to people who were coming to our facility," the news release states. "Our prayers and sympathy go out to all of the passengers, their families and anyone else who may have been affected by this accident."
The single-vehicle accident sparked a massive emergency response from Sacramento to Chico, with hospitals, fire departments and other officials racing to the scene of the crash in Colusa County.
The crash occurred at 6:10 p.m. on Lone Star Road, a two-lane road fronted by a water-filled ditch. The road is a popular shortcut for motorists headed to the casino, and the crash site is about six miles from Williams and four miles from Colusa.
Kays gave this account of the crash based on witness statements: "The eyewitness that observed the crash said it went off the right shoulder, over-corrected, and you've got all that weight shifting on the bus, and it wound up going across the highway, flipping and overturning so it was facing in the wrong direction from the canal there, from the original direction it was going."
No other vehicles were thought to have been involved, and the accident occurred before darkness fell on the area, which is largely rice fields and farmland.
Disaster response plans were put into effect throughout the region, and by 10 p.m. at least eight hospitals were receiving patients from the crash.
Watts is one of four patients from the crash receiving treatment at Woodland Memorial. The hospital originally received six crash victims, but one has been transferred to another hospital and another has been released, said Lourdes Edralin, a hospital spokeswoman.
Laura Hennum, a spokeswoman at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, said her hospital had received 10 patients – four in critical condition and two in serious condition, plus four who had yet to be evaluated.
Other hospitals helping included the UC Davis Medical Center, Sutter Roseville, Woodland Memorial, a hospital in Marysville, another in Oroville and Mercy San Juan Medical Center.
At the scene, the bus sat aside the ditch with generator-powered lights shining on the area, dozens of firefighting and rescue trucks and helicopters overhead.
At least nine rescue helicopters had been called to the scene, and authorities said dozens of hospital workers had been called in to help in various medical centers.
Authorities said they had trouble determining what happened during the crash because many of the victims apparently spoke Laotian.
"We've had a difficulty with the language barrier," said CHP Dispatcher Brenda Houck.
Houck said an interpreter from Chico had been called in to assist.
The Bee's Niesha Lofing contributed to this report.
About the writer:
Call The Bee's Niesha Lofing, (916) 321-1270.
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Emergency responders search through high weeds in a water filled ditch after a tour bus crashed on a rural two lane road near Williams, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008. At least ten people died and several were injured in the accident on the way to a casino resort 60 miles north of Sacramento.
Steve Yeater / AP
Click on photo to enlarge
A tour bus lies in a water filled ditch after crashing on a rural two lane road near Williams, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008. At least 10 people died and several were injured when the bus crashed while carrying passengers to a casino resort 60 miles north of Sacramento.
Steve Yeater / AP
Click on photo to enlarge
Emergency crews search for survivors of a fatal bus crash late Sunday, October 5, 2008 in rural Yolo County. At least 10 people were killed and dozens others injured when a privately owned tour bus headed from Sacramento to a Colusa-area casino flipped over on a two-lane road near Williams, officials said.
Carl Costas / ccostas@sacbee.com
Click on photo to enlarge
A tour bus lies in a water filled ditch after crashing on a rural two lane road near Williams, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008. At least 10 people died and several were injured in theaccident north of Sacramento.
Steve Yeater / AP Photo
Click on photo to enlarge
Casino bus driver cleared of DUI, charged with parole violation...
??????
we can address the issue as much as we want but who is going to have the time to follow through with caring about our elders? whos the one who can take out to the zoo organize activies for them to attend and have the money to do that? these folks are also folks that needs care and attention....where else can they get it when its with friends who they can relate to and address their feelings? be honest how often do you pay attention to your seniors? can you do it all the time? no so it starts at home one day at a time
after the grief and law suits, we, southeast asian americans, need to address the gambling issues in our community.
The planetary position says it all.
Currently MARS is in SCORPIO
MARS is energy, action, aggression.
SCORPIO is intensity, death, dark.
Combine it and dangerous things occur through actions.
Just an advice from me, be careful what you do or where you're going, YOU, could be affected by MARS' position.
my mom told me that two of the mien people who died were my mom's friend's mother-in-law and something about my dad's cousin. they just left to go do the funeral stuff.
my cousin told me taht it was our grandma's cousin's wife and she's not sure whether this one survived or not but it's her brother-in-law's dad or something.
Its so sad and hurts so close to heart these individuals past away in such a traggic way. Our body can die in seconds. In this case, theirs.
I don't know them at all. Still crushes me and brought tears after seeing this on the news last night. Its so hard to find news online when you want it. I'm not a t.v. news person.
Did anyone watch the Sac. news? It was heart breaking to hear an Organization that is suppose to provide services and somehow don't have a media/advising board that can consult their workers to give a little respect to the family and co-workers. Instead, is outraged at the Victims. The response and comments were un-necessary.
Its long overdue to provide financial problem solving services or educating the Asian community with financial/money budgeting services.
...with that said, please, if you must delete my comments.
:I never want what you have. I built my needs and wants one penny at a time stacked neatly one at a time on top of the other(s).:
This is the saddest story I've ever heard. Two of the occupants of that bus, I happen to know well. My heart goes out to all the families effected by this tragedy.
MiSsSaNDeEe
**always smile at the world with your head held high, no mountain is ever too high to climb**
My prayers and sympathy goes out to all the famliy's that are affected in this tragic accident.
(Sadness cuts my heart so deep)
CRT....
Yie haiz fienx nyei... Yie nyei Gou "JiouZou" (Kaochiem nyei maa) mh-baac mv maaih wuonc-qiex mun camv nyei. Ee-wangc nyei m'sieqv-dorn sei zoux zuqc a'nyei cing-jaa gou... Yie sei zoux zuqc Jiouwangc nyei domh-nauz.. Yie mv-baac a'hnoi tengx jienv ninh mbuo dimv lorh ninh mbuo ninh domh-mienh...
Ninh mbuo naaiv deix mienh-gox mienh za'gengh maiv maaih wuonc-qiex.. Yie mh-baac korh lienh ninh mbuo camv nyei...
Cousin, Meih hiuv duqv daic naaic se maaih I dauh mbuo nyei ganh mienh muoz.......
Meih jiangx duqv Chio Vang nyei? Ninh nyei dae heuc Ee Vang...itz Chio Vang's mom whom is also one whom did not make it and E Vang, himself is in the hospital,
and also caux maaih dauh se nyei muoz gux..(Seng Fong nyei m'sieqv dorn)..yoc aengh maaih dauh se Sou Hinh nyei maa....(Sou Hinh was the one in the karaoke contest awhile back)
My prayers goes out to all the people affected in this tragedy...and whom lost their love ones
~Life's too short so we live life to the fullest~
This is horrific. Reading about it bring tears to my eyes, even when I don't know these people. Just the thought of this accident is terrifying and saddening. Imagine if it is one of our own.. =/ My heart goes out to their families. This is very, very, very sad.
""Making every precious moment count"
The owner of the bus has a Mien daughter?....
http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/1291152.html#comments_here
Just heard about this on the 10 o'clock news and came here for more info. Everytime I hear about deaths due to the result of DUI just makes me sick to my stomach. What makes this even worser is that he is a bus driver. How can this happened? Somehow, someway all public service transportation drivers should be check before getting behind the wheels.
I dont want to see a drunk pilot flying a plane next.
Some people will never learn driving under the influence of alcohol can ruin people’s life. Hope, this is a learning lesson for those who are thinking of driving drunk. Think about others before you get behind the wheel.
I am so sorry to hear someone’s love one die in this crash.
The CHP his identified seven people who were killed in the crash of a casino bus Sunday night near Williams. The driver has been arrested on a charge of driving under the influence.
Eight people were killed in the crash. The list of seven dead are those whose next of kin have been notified. One person has not been identified.
1. Daniel Cobb, 68, of Modesto and Sacramento. Bus owner.
2. Lou Her, 68, of Sacramento
3. Muang Saephanh, 68, of Sacramento
4. Khou Yang, 67, of Sacramento
5. Meuay Saelee, 74, of Sacramento
6. Fin Saechae, 64, of Sacramento
7. Ma Vang, 60, of Sacramento
All but Cobb are female.
Read more stories on the crash in its victims at www.sacbee.com.
No disrespect to anyone but I knew there had to be one or two mien people on that bus. cause alot of our elders are finally living life and heading to casinos to have a little fun. It's good that they are enjoying their life but very unfortunate for these two. My condolescences to their families. Again I hope I didn't offend anyone. The driver, how ever, should have his license provoked.
""Making every precious moment count"
My thoughts and prayers are with all of the families that have lost a loved one in this crash.
There were at least two Mien people on that bus....one passed, one with a broken arm...