Investigators are combing through the wreckage of a tour bus crash on State Route 38 near Yucaipa that killed at least 7 people and injured 38 others Sunday.
The tour bus' maintenance records reveal the company was inspected 22 times and cited for 30 violations between Jan. 2011 and Oct. 2012.
According to the Department of Transportation, the violations included insufficient brake linings, power steering issues, tire problems and fuel tank violations.
The bus collided with two other vehicles around 6:30 p.m. on the mountain highway north of Yucaipa and below Forest Falls.
"The tour bus was traveling southbound on Route 38 just north of Bryant when, for reasons that are still undetermined, lost control, rear ended a Saturn sedan and then collided with a Ford pickup truck that was towing a work trailer," CHP spokesman Mario Lopez said.
There were a total of 43 people involved in Sunday's accident. Seventeen people were critically hurt when the bus overturned as it was returning to Tijuana from a Big Bear Lake skiing trip. Multiple victims were ejected from the bus upon impact. Eight people have been reported dead so far. The fate of the passengers in the car was not clear.
The coroner was on scene of the major injury crash Monday, working with CHP in a cooperative manner. The CHP's multidisciplinary accident team, which specializes in dealing with the most severe accidents, was also called to the scene. CHP said the number of deaths is expected to rise because the coroner was starting to remove bodies from the mangled vehicle.
Officials said this could very well be the worst crash scene they've ever seen in their careers. The bus was left perched sideways across two lanes with its windows blown out, front end crushed, and part of the roof peeled back like a tin can.
