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HERALD QUESTION
OF THE DAY
Is Sen. Arlen Specter’s party defection
an indication that the Republican
Party has moved too far to the right?
Herald surveys are unscientific
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Gabilan Dr.
SOLEDAD
St.
BUS CRASH KILLS
FIVE ON HWY. 101
A tour bus crashed and rolled
over around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday
on a Highway 101 overpass
near Front Street in Soledad.
Main
Soledad: At least 32 injured as vehicle carrying French tourists overturns
West
St.
www.montereyherald.com
San Vicente Rd.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
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Ma
rk
et
Un
101
[
ion
Fr
on
t
Pa St
cif .
St
.
ic
R
R
JAMES HERRERA/The Herald
By DANIEL LOPEZ,
VIRGINIA HENNESSEY
and LAITH AGHA
Herald Staff Writers
A charter bus carrying dozens of French tourists
crashed about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday on a Highway 101 overpass just north of Soledad,
killing five passengers and
injuring 32.
The injured
were
being Inside
treated at hosHospitals
pitals
from where
Stanford
to patients were
Fresno, hours taken. A12
after the group Safety belts in
made a lunch- buses. A12
time visit to the
Monterey Peninsula.
The charter bus, which
was carrying the group from
San Francisco to a planned
overnight stay in Santa Maria,
overturned and careened violently before ending up on its
side near the edge of the
Front Street overpass.
Four passengers were
ejected from the bus and fell
from the overpass to the road
below. What caused the bus
to careen out of control was
not immediately known. The
cause is under investigation.
Three people died at the
scene and one died a short
time later at Salinas Valley
Memorial Hospital. A fifth
person died about 8:30 p.m.
VERN FISHER/The Herald
Rescue personnel look over the scene of a fatal tour bus accident on Highway 101 near Soledad on Tuesday.
Please see Crash page A12
First run for disaster response team
Rescue worker recalls Columbine
n
the
Web
monterey
herald.com
See
monterey
herald.com
today for
updates on
the Soledad
bus crash.
By JIM JOHNSON
Herald Salinas Bureau
Monterey County emergency responder Tino Arellano hadn’t seen anything like
Tuesday’s fatal bus crash
near Soledad since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.
Arellano, who worked as a
Denver paramedic at the
scene of the deadly Colorado
high
school
shooting,
responded to Tuesday’s accident in the county Emergency Medical Services
agency’s new California
Disaster Medical Support
Unit.
He said the local emergency
response,
which
involved mutual aid from as
far away as Sacramento and
Santa Maria, was similar to
that after the Columbine
shootings.
When Arellano and his
team arrived on scene about
a half hour after being dispatched from Salinas, he said
he saw nearly a dozen people
who had already been
extricated from the mangled
bus, which had its front end
ripped open from the
accident.
Victims on ground
The victims were stretched
out on the ground and being
treated for critical head, chest
and abdominal injuries, as
well as less serious cuts,
scrapes and bruises, he said.
People were still being
Please see Response page A12
Victims of the crash, secured to backboards in a triage area, wait for
transportation to a hospital.
U.S. officials brace
Girl shot at soccer
swine-flu deaths
game in December dies forRising
toll of the sick
KING CITY
By DANIEL LOPEZ
Herald Staff Writer
Three teenage boys may
face murder charges and
possibly life in prison after
an 11-year-old King City girl
who was shot at a December soccer game died
Monday.
Esther Rubio and her 15year-old brother were hit by
shots Dec. 2 as they sat in
the spectator bleachers at
King City High School. At
the time, police said the
shooting apparently was
gang-related and the shots
were intended for someone
Inside
else in a rival gang in the
bleachers.
The young girl was hit by
four shots, including one
that penetrated both her
lungs, police said at the
time. Her brother recovered, King City police said,
but the girl remained
hospitalized.
She was originally at Stanford Medical Center and
was later transferred to an
extended care facility for
children in Saratoga, said
Monterey County Sheriff’s
Please see Murder page A4
Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C8
Business & Finance . . . . . . . . . .B1
Classified Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C6
Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D6
includes 11 in California
By TOM RAUM
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Federal officials warned Tuesday that swine-flu related
deaths were likely in the
United States as the disease
that killed scores in Mexico
continued to spread across
the world and governments
intensified steps to battle
the outbreak.
The number of confirmed
cases in the United States
was raised to 65, but states
and cities were reporting
Crossword Puzzle . . . . . . . . . . .D5
Editorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A10
Legal Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C10
Local News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2
Inside
Schools urge parents to stay
calm. A2
Outbreak affecting tourism,
economy. B1
more suspected cases. In
New York, the city’s health
commissioner said ‘‘many
hundreds’’ of schoolchildren were sick at a school
where some students had
confirmed cases.
President Barack Obama
Please see Flu page A4
Lottery Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2
Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A6
Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A8
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D1
Sudoku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C6
Taste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C1
TV, Dear Abby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D5
Weather, Tides . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B6 7
39918 00050
4