Horror as EIGHT die and 38 are injured after tour bus crashes in California mountains

At least eight people died and 38 injured after a tour bus collided with a car and a pick-up truck in a horror smash Sunday night in the mountains of Southe Califoia.

It is thought the brakes may have failed on the bus, which careered down a mountain route close to the town of Forest Falls, before colliding with a car and flipping over, then ploughing into a pick-up towing a trailer.

Emergency workers spent hours extricating people from the stricken bus - which was carrying tourists retuing to Tijuana, Mexico, after a day of skiing at Califoia's popular Big Bear resort - following the 'devastating' crash on State Route 38 at 6.30pm last night.

Fatal: Emergency workers spent more than an hour extricating trapped passengers from the bus following the 'devastating' accident, which left at least eight people dead and dozens more injured

Hurt: Victims of a fatal bus crash reach out to comfort each other in the wake of the smash, which left eight dead and dozens more - including children - injured

A Highway Patrol officer at the scene, Mario Lopez, confirmed the death toll and said almost 40 people were rushed to hospital in the aftermath of the accident.

Some passengers were thrown from the bus, while others were left trapped among the wreckage. Children were among the injured.

'It's horrific, it is tragic, it is caage,' Terri Kasinga, from the Califoia Department of Transport, said in the wake of the crash.

'It is so bad up there it's hard to understand what really happened,' she told ABC Local Los Angeles.

The bus driver reported having brake problems as it came down the mountain on State Route 38, rear-ending a sedan then flipping over and hitting a pickup truck that was pulling a trailer, he said.

Passengers on the bus were part of a tour group from Tijuana, Mexico, and a representative from the Mexican consulate was at the crash scene.

The bus was heading down the mountain carrying passengers retuing from a day of skiing and snowboarding at Big Bear, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Survivors told the network those on board heard the driver shout something about the vehicle's brakes, then the bus began weaving in and out of traffic as it sped down the route before colliding with the sedan and flipping over.

Tragedy: The bus eventually came to a rest lying sideways across both lanes State Route 38 close to the town of Forest Falls

Debris: A Califoia Highway Patrol officer stands near the crash scene with the battered trailer from a pick-truck hit by the bus in the background

Tragedy: Emergency services help victims at the crash scene near Forest Falls, Califoia, around 80 miles from Los Angeles

Scene: One of the 38 injured is taken into an ambulance after a tour bus crashed with a pick-up truck and car on a rural mountain highway in Southe Califoia on Sunday night, killing eight people

Many were left trapped in the bus, which came to a rest lying sideways across both lanes of State Route 38 with its front end crushed.

Television footage showed the bus sitting upright but tued sideways on the road, which was littered with debris.

'It's really a mess up there with body parts,' Michelle Profant, a spokeswoman for Califoia Department of Transportation, said of the 'shocking' crash scene.

At least seven ambulances were called to the scene, and patients were taken to several hospitals.

Mr Lopez said more than a dozen survivors pulled from the wreckage had sustained life-threatening injuries.

He told press gathered at the crash scene last night: 'We still don't know what caused the bus to accelerate down the 38. There's a possibility of mechanical issues.

'The bus rear-ended a Satu sedan then rolled or overtued,' he said, adding that the bus then collided with a Ford pick-up truck towing a trailer, resulting in 'multiple fatalities'.

'It's a terrible crash,' he said.

'We are trying to get investigators in there and hopefully determine exactly what happened.'

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center said four women had been admitted from the crash and their conditions were still being determined.

'Chaotic': Investigators and emergency workers survey the grim scene on State Route 38, which was littered with debris in the aftermath of the fatal crash

Day trip: The tour bus was carrying Mexican tourists, believed to be en route home to Tijuana following a day of skiing and snowboarding at Califoia's popular Big Bear resort

Catastrophe: Investigators survey the scene with the battered bus and trailer taped off and items like shoes, probably belonging to victims, strewn on the road

Redland Community Hospital said it received one person in critical condition and one with minor injuries, while two more were en route with minor injuries.

Community Hospital of San Beardino said it had received one patient with undetermined injuries, while St. Beadine Medical Center said it had two patients, whose injuries were being assessed.

Lettering on the bus indicated that it was operated by Scapadas Magicas LLC, a company based in National City, Califoia.

Federal transportation records show that the company is licensed to carry passengers for interstate travel, and that it has had no crashes in the past two years. 

A call to the company was not immediately retued.

Jordi Garcia, a manager for InterBus Tours, said his company ran the trip yesterday. He told U-T San Diego that the group departed Tijuana at 5 a.m. for a day of skiing at Big Bear.

'The information that we have is that the bus brakes failed and the accident occurred,' he said.

The Califoia crash comes less than a day after a bus carrying 42 high school students and their chaperones slammed into an overpass in Boston. Massachusetts state police said 35 people were injured and that the driver had directed the bus onto a road with a height limit.