Three people were critically injured after a speeding school bus carrying middle school students crashed and got stuck against a tree at an Anaheim golf course Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
After jumping a curb, plowing into trees and a lamp post, the fast-moving bus veered out of its lane and came to rest tilting sideways, leaving 12 people injured, the Associated Press reported.
The driver was the most seriously hurt victim, with the windshield of the bus having to be broken before pulling him through. Following the rescue, he was immediately taken by an ambulance to University of California, Irvine Medical Center, authorities said.
While nine suffered from minor injuries, two students were reported to be in critical condition, Anaheim police Lt. Bob Dunn said.
According to the AP, student Jak Pintches, 14, said the bus went off the road during a turn.
"I flew out of my seat and hit the other side of the bus" and injured his back, the teenager told the Orange County Register. A girl's leg was cut after part of a tree broke into the bus.
Immediately after the crash, everyone was asked to get off since the bus was leaking gasoline, he said.
Preliminary evidence indicates that the driver might not have hit the brakes before crashing into the tree, the California Highway Patrol, which is heading the investigation, reported.
"I don't see any skid marks," CHP spokesman Florentino Olivera told the Los Angeles Times. "It looks like he went straight into the tree."
The crash happened next to Anaheim Hills Golf Course as the bus was taking students home from an after-party activity at El Ranchi Charter Middle School, said a statement from Michael L. Christensen, superintendent of the Orange Unified School District.
Witness Andrea Shurtz, one of many people driving nearby who saw the crash, said the bus was going fast when it hit a curb and appeared to go airborne, the AP reported.
"It came flying down the hill," Shurtz told KABC-TV, "and took out trees along the way."
"Kids were screaming. Gas was pouring out the back," Shurtz said. "People just came running from everywhere."
Although the bus was equipped with seat belts, it isn't clear how many of the students were actually wearing them, police said.
