Bus crashes after passenger attacks driver; 2 dead
|
Rescue personnel tend to an overturned Greyhound bus on Interstate 5.
|
|
|
|
|
|
FRESNO, California (CNN) -- A Greyhound commuter bus ran off the road and overturned Monday evening in rural western Fresno County -- killing two people -- after at least one of the passengers on board attacked the driver, according state and local law enforcement officials.
"The bus was moving at freeway speeds when one passenger -- possibly two -- attacked the driver with a knife," said Lt. Jeff Johnson of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. "He was attacked in the head and throat area," and is in stable condition.
Johnson said a suspected attacker was in custody. The motive for the attack was unknown.
Ester Molina with the Highway Patrol said two people died in the accident and 50 others were injured -- 10 of which she described as "major injuries." She said several people had been evacuated via helicopter ambulance.
The bus was northbound on Interstate 5 just before 9 p.m. PDT (midnight EDT) when the incident occurred about 50 miles southwest of Fresno (about 10 miles northeast of Coalinga) in the San Joaquin Valley. (Map)