Santa Maria, Calif. – A Greyhound bus ran off a freeway, overturned and slid at least 100 yards on its side before hitting a tree Sunday, killing a pregnant woman and another passenger.
Dozens of other passengers among the 44 people aboard the San Francisco- bound bus were injured, authorities said.
Four survivors were trapped in the wreckage and had to be rescued with hydraulic equipment, and some of the most seriously injured were airlifted to hospitals, authorities said.
A preliminary investigation suggested that driver fatigue may have contributed to the crash.
Faro Jahani, 50, of San Francisco and Martha Contreras, 23, of Santa Maria were killed in the crash, said Lt. Dan Minor of the California Highway Patrol. Contreras’ husband told authorities she was seven months pregnant.
Seven people suffered major injuries after the bus went down an embankment off U.S. 101 shortly after 7 a.m., said Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Keith Cullom.
The bus had left Los Angeles at 3:15 a.m., said Kim Plaskett, a spokeswoman for the Dallas-based bus line.
Minor said a preliminary investigation gave no indication of mechanical problems, and the bus driver didn’t appear to have been impaired by alcohol or drugs.
“We do have reason to believe that driver fatigue may have been a significant factor,” Minor said.
The previous night, the driver had traveled from Fresno to Los Angeles, Minor said.
The bus drifted off the freeway about 3 miles from its intended off-ramp and came to rest on its right side a few feet down an embankment after striking a eucalyptus tree.
Both northbound lanes of U.S. 101, one of the state’s major corridors, were shut down after the accident and remained closed until midafternoon as the California Highway Patrol investigated.
The closure caused a backup that stretched for 2 miles, officials said.
Santa Maria, which was in the media spotlight this year during the four-month child-molestation trial of singer Michael Jackson, is about 75 miles north of Santa Barbara.
Three buses were sent to Santa Maria to pick up passengers who were able to continue the trip.
