20 taken to hospitals after bus returning from church camp overturns on winding California road

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A bus carrying teens and young adults returning from a church camp in the Southern California mountains lost control and tipped onto its side Sunday night while on the way down a winding mountain road, sending 20 people to the hospital, authorities said.

The bus began to shake and swerve then rocked side to side before toppling over, said Cyntia Ramirez, a 21-year-old community college student who had been on board. She recalled the accident Monday while picking up her stray luggage from the Orange County church that organized the weekend retreat at a camp in the San Bernardino Mountains. A youth leader from the trip pulled her out of a hatch on the roof, she said.

“It’s just a freak accident,” Ramirez said.

The bus with 36 people aboard crashed at a curve on two-lane highway near Running Springs, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. The winding route curves along cliffsides and through forest areas at an elevation of about 6,100 feet (1,860 meters).

California Highway Patrol responded to the accident at about 8:50 p.m. on Sunday. While going around the curve, the bus driver collided with the rock embankment on the right shoulder “for unknown reasons,” causing the bus to overturn, CHP said in a statement.

“A total of 26 patients, including three with major injuries, were treated. Of those, 20 were transported to area hospitals, all by ground ambulances,” a fire department statement said. The others declined to be transported.

Fire department photos showed paramedics tending to patients, some wearing neck braces, seated in a triage area set up on the highway. There was no fire or hazardous material exposure, the fire department said.

The bus, carrying adults and teens, was traveling downhill back to Orange County after a three-day youth retreat at Camp Nawakwa near the tiny community of Angelus Oaks in the San Bernardino Mountains, said Jarryd Gonzales, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Orange.

About 125 people including teens, staff and volunteers from Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Santa Ana participated in the event, he said. They were heading home in several vans and the bus that was involved in the accident.

“We extend our deepest gratitude to the first-responder agencies for their prompt and professional response in safely evacuating passengers and ensuring they received proper medical attention,” Gonzales said in a statement.

Youth leader Prisilla Mendoza, 20, said she had dozed off in the moments before the crash.

“I was asleep and I just woke up and I heard everybody screaming,” she said. Mendoza said she blacked out after the crash and doesn’t remember how she got out of the bus.

Father José Félix Troncoso said a half-dozen patients remained at the hospital for treatment for fractured fingers and at least one head injury.

The route was closed in both directions while CHP investigated.

Troncoso said he made the trek up the scenic mountain road to lead Mass for the group on Sunday. He left at 4 p.m. and got word about the accident around 10 p.m.

“It’s very beautiful, but getting up there is a process,” Troncoso told reporters in Spanish.