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3 crashes send 32 to hospital

ALTA, Calif. (AP) – Three traffic accidents on westbound Interstate 80 in Placer County injured 32 people, mostly passengers on three tour buses involved in a pileup Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Three victims suffered major injuries and two of them were airlifted to area hospitals, said Diane Clader, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol. She didn’t immediately have any details of the injuries.

The accidents, which all occurred within a one-mile stretch of the highway, began around 4 p.m. when a big-rig overturned near the town of Alta, spilling 100 gallons of diesel, said CHP Officer Richard Ruiz.



Within minutes, a motorcycle went down about a half-mile behind the big-rig, Ruiz said. And shortly after that, a tour bus that slowed down as it approached the motorcycle crash site was rear-ended by a car, setting off a chain-reaction pileup that also involved two other tour buses, he said.

The three buses, owned by Lucky Tours, were heading from Reno to the Bay Area.



In addition to the three seriously injured, 29 others were taken to five area hospitals. Most were middle-aged or elderly passengers on the buses, Clader said.

No deaths were reported.

All westbound lanes of I-80 remained closed Sunday evening, as authorities cleaned up the diesel spill and cleared the crash sites, Ruiz said.

The cause of the crashes was under investigation.


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