PALA MESA, Calif. (KGTV) -- A 5-year-old boy critically injured in Saturday’s deadly bus crash was airlifted to a Riverside County hospital Sunday, authorities said.
The young boy was airlifted from Inland Valley Medical Center to the Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley to be treated for a head injury, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Latulippe said.
The boy was among 21 passengers on a charter bus traveling to Tijuana from El Monte. The crash happened on Interstate 15 south of State Route 76.
Three women were killed in the crash that left 18 others hospitalized. Five of those injured were taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, five to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar and eight to Temecula Valley Hospital, Latulippe said.
RELATED: At least three dead, 18 injured in bus rollover on Interstate 15
Three passengers suffered major injuries, Latulippe said, and officials were determining the other injured patients' conditions Sunday morning.
The crash happened around 10:30 a.m. Saturday when the charter bus owned by Executive Lines Inc. slid off the 15 during heavy rain. The bus then continued down an embankment before landing on its roof, ejecting several passengers.
A vehicle inspection report dated November 5, 2019, shows that, as of that date, the windshield wipers were either inoperative or defective.
The same report shows that the vehicle had no spare fuses “as required.”
A second report of the bus line revealed that 48 percent of vehicles in that particular safety group have better on-road performance.
The review also showed no “acute/critical violations discovered.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
