Gilpin County – At least two people were critically injured Thursday afternoon when a casino bus headed to Black Hawk and Central City veered into the oncoming lane on Colorado 119 and hit a utility truck.
Within seconds of the first crash, the driver of a southbound car attempted to avoid the accident, lost control and swung into the northbound lane, where the vehicle struck a motorcycle, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Medical helicopters landed on the highway and airlifted the bus driver and truck driver to St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver.
Ambulances transported six people from the bus, the motorcycle rider and the car driver to metro-area hospitals. Injuries ranged from minor to very serious.
“I was reading the paper, and I heard a big bang. I was thrown into the seat in front of me,” said Richard Potter, 45, a native of Golden and a regular visitor to Black Hawk, who was sitting in a passenger-side seat near the front of the bus.
“I was scared,” said Potter, who was among those taken to St. Anthony. “There was a lot of screaming.”
He said a woman sitting in front of him was knocked to the floor of the bus and was pinned by seats collapsing on top of her.
“God played a hand in keeping us safe and nobody dying,” he said.
The bus driver was pinned and had what appeared to be bad cuts on both legs, Potter said. A woman at the hospital who said she was the mother-in-law of the bus driver declined to give her name or his but said: “He’s comfortable. He’s resting.”
The crashes occurred 50 yards apart about 4 miles south of Black Hawk on a blind curve, said Master Trooper Ron Watkins of the State Patrol. The heavily traveled highway was closed for several hours beginning at 2 p.m.
The utility truck is registered to Cummins Rocky Mountain of Henderson. Cummins’ owner was away and couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Casino Transportation Inc. bus was carrying 13 passengers – all adults. The bus received extensive damage to the driver’s compartment. It came to rest against the mountainside.
According to State Patrol Sgt. Mark Savage of the commercial-safety program, the bus company had a compliance review in 2000 and its overall safety record was satisfactory. There have been no injury-related accidents since then for which the company was at fault.
The safety record of the bus driver is “very good,” Savage said.
The vehicle’s equipment rating also was good.
Officials at Casino Transportation declined to comment.
Since gambling began in Colorado in 1991, more drivers use U.S. 6 and Colorado 119 to reach casino towns. The worst crash along the stretch was Sept. 27, 1995, when three people were killed and 42 others injured after a van hit a casino bus head-on.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales contributed to this report.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
