The medical examiner in San Diego said Tayde Murguia, 64, of Van Nuys, was killed in the crash Thursday. Her neighbors describe Murguia as a nice lady, who loved to plant roses outside of her home. She was a mother of three and grandmother of four. Murguia's husband was traveling with her on the trip. It's unknown if he was injured.
The crash happened around 2:30 p.m. The bus was being operated by Five Star Bus, based out of the city of Bell. It was heading from Los Angeles to the Valley View Casino when the driver lost control.
Investigators say Murguia became trapped in the wreckage after she was partially ejected from the bus.
Six other passengers suffered serious injuries when they were thrown from the bus.
Roads were wet at the time due to rainfall, but it is too soon to say if the weather played a role in the accident.
"We can't confirm that that is exactly the case in this crash at this time, and the CHP would never really blame crashes on the weather. However, we will blame a crash on somebody who is driving at an unsafe speed for conditions. And if this was the case, we will get down to the bottom of it," said Jim Bettancourt with the CHP.
The bus driver, described as a 56-year-old male from Compton, told authorities he was only going 55 mph at the time of the crash. No other vehicles were involved. So far, it doesn't appear that drugs or alcohol were a factor.
The bus is operated by the Five Star Bus Company out of the city of Bell. The CHP says the company was last inspected on July 9. It was rated satisfactory with maintenance, driver records and buses.
At roughly the same time Thursday afternoon, another tour bus crashed in Corona. That crash killed one passenger and injured 22 others and the driver.
