A bush crash in Merced County has claimed the lives of at least five passengers. The crash happened around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday on Highway 99 one mile south of the Hammat Avenue exit near the city of Livingston, according to a spokesperson with Merced-area California Highway Patrol. Thirty people were aboard the chartered tour bus traveling from Southern California to Sacramento at the time. The bus apparently swerved and hit a sign pole, CHP says, and was cut up by the pole.
Five people were killed in the crash. At least another five people, some in grave condition, have been transported to the hospital.