Several dead, 27 injured in tour bus crash By Jason Kandel and Alex Vasquez, NBCLosAngeles.com Several people died and 27 people were injured on Sunday when a private charter tour bus coming down a mountain road collided with an SUV and another car. Firefighters from multiple agencies responded to Highway 38 near Bryant Street in Mentone about 6:30 p.m. The road is used to travel to and from the mountain resort of Big Bear, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Initial reports said that as many as 10 people may have been killed when they were ejected from a bus. But officials had yet to confirm the number. There were 39 people aboard the bus. Four other people in two other vehicles were involved in the crash. Read the original story on NBCLosAngeles.com Several people were thrown from the bus that rolled at least once, said Ronald Walls, a battalion chief at the San Bernardino County Fire Department. The unmarked charter bus had significant damage to the passenger's side, he said. Firefighters worked to extricate people from the bus as other emergency crews set up triage areas in a "mass casualty" situation, said Eric Sherwin, with the San Bernardino County Fire Department. The bus was from Tijuana headed back from Big Bear, Terri Kasinga of Caltrans. A member of the Mexican Consulate was at the scene, Kasinga said. Firefighters called a network of doctors and nurses to poll hospitals on bed availability, Sherwin said. Witnesses said a bus hit a truck and rolled down an embankment, possibly clipping other cars. Highway 38 was closed in both directions while emergency crews worked the scene.