1974 Blythe, California bus crash
A school bus-type vehicle carrying farm workers fell into a drainage canal near Ripley, California, southwest of Blythe, California, at approximately 6:30 a.m. PST before sunrise on January 15, 1974, killing 19 and injuring 28. Accident The 1955 GMC bus involved in the accident was owned by labor contractor Jesus Ayala and driven by Pablo Navarro Arellanos from the starting point of Calexico, California, bound to the intended destination of a High and Mighty Farms field, approximately away from the crash site. He was driving the bus at the intersection of 20th Avenue and Rannells Boulevard, posted with a speed limit of , and missed a 90 degree turn, causing the bus to fall and rest its left side in a drainage canal. The seats loosened and careened to the front, contributing to the deaths of Arellanos and some passengers. Nineteen people were killed, officially due to drowning from water in the canal, and the remaining twenty-eight were injured. The reported depths of the water include inside the bus and . Sources including a commentary by Cesar Chavez mention the deaths of family members including a father and his three teenage children. The majority of passengers in the bus were