911 call from fatal bus crash released
Jan 3, 2018, 6:52 PM | Updated: 7:01 pm
EMERY COUNTY – Newly released 911 phone audio is giving us insight into the panicked confusion that followed after a fatal bus crash on I-70. The crash killed a 13-year old California girl on Sunday.
The call that was released came from a woman who was traveling with her husband on the Greyhound bus from Denver to Las Vegas. Sobbing, she told the dispatcher that there were many people hurt. “A bunch of people… our bus crashed,” she said.
Right away, she knew she was injured quite badly. “I have a big bump on my head, and I can’t really think, so much,” she told the dispatcher. In the background, you could hear other people describing their own head injuries. Plus, she can be heard speaking with her husband, who couldn’t remember anything that happened or getting off of the bus.
Highway Patrol officials say medics were sent to the general area as soon as the call came into dispatch. However, they also say the crash happened on a remote stretch of I-70. Plus, the bus had fallen into a steep wash, so pinpointing where it crashed proved to be extremely tricky. The dispatcher told the woman, “I’m still waiting for mapping to refresh so I can get your location.” Later, he told her, “Ma’am, I’m still trying. I have a latitude and longitude. We’re going to try and pinpoint your location, but, I still want to stay on the phone with you so I can get a mile marker.”
As the woman was in the wash, she could hear cars passing by. She screamed for them to stop, to no avail. After roughly 20 minutes, someone was able to stop a semi driver. She said, “There’s a truck that stopped to help.” The dispatcher then responded, “I’m going to let you go right now, ok?” She screamed for him not to hang up, so he didn’t.
All but 13 people on that bus were injured. Summer Pinzon from Azusa, California, was killed.