Teenagers who were hurt over the weekend when the bus they were traveling in crashed in San Bernardino County recalled the scary moment the vehicle rolled over.
More than two dozen teens from an Orange County church group were hurt Sunday night when the bus crashed on Highway 330 in Running Springs. The group, from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Ana, was returning from a retreat in Big Bear when the incident happened.
“I just remember sleeping. I was tired, I was exhausted,” said Brittany Rivera, who was on the bus when it crashed. “I wake up to the guy screaming and saying, ‘My brakes – they stopped working.’”
Following the rollover crash, the bus caught fire. More than 35 people were on board the vehicle and at least 19 of them were taken to nearby hospitals, San Bernardino County Fire said.
“I serve at the group but the thing that came to me – those younger girls,” Rivera said emotionally. “They were in the back, they got hurt. All I cared about was the girls, if they were OK or not. I saw so many with their wounds open.”
Investigators with the California Highway Patrol are trying to determine if failed brakes caused the driver to lose control. The bus struck a rock embankment during the crash, which contributed to the survival of the passengers, CHP said.
“I completely blanked out. I don’t know how I got out, but I got out,” said Prisilla Mendoza, a youth leader who got hurt in the crash. “It’s a lot but thanks to God, there was that rock behind us that protected us from further colliding.”
Those who were hospitalized in the incident suffered wounds that ranged from minor to moderate. They are expected to be OK.
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