1 killed, 32 injured in collision of bus and SUV on Los Angeles area freeway

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1 killed, 32 injured in collision of bus and SUV on Los Angeles area freeway

2025-05-12 12:50 Last Updated At：13:00

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One person was killed and 32 people were injured, including two critically, when a tour bus and a sport utility vehicle collided on a Los Angeles area freeway early Sunday, officials said.

The lone occupant of the SUV died after the vehicle became engulfed in flames following the crash just after 5 a.m. in the Hacienda Heights area, about 20 miles (32 km) east of downtown LA, the California Highway Patrol said in a news release.

CHP Officer Zachary Salazar said 32 people were taken to hospitals, including the two in critical condition. He said the remaining people transported had injuries ranging from moderate to minor.

A passenger on the bus, Joe Runnel, told KTLA-TV that people were “begging for mercy” in the moments after the crash that closed two lanes of State Route 60 for several hours.

“I was thrown from the back seat of the bus to the floor about three or four seats down,” Runnel said. “Glass was on me … there was a lot of hollering.”

The preliminary investigation suggests that the SUV became disabled for unknown reasons in a lane and the tour bus then collided with the rear of the SUV, the CHP said. After the impact, the bus veered to the right across all lanes and collided with the guardrail along the shoulder, the news release said.

There was significant damage to the front of the bus, including a shattered windshield. The LA County Fire Department said the fire did not spread to the bus.

Salazar said 63 people were aboard the bus, including the driver. He said 31 people were able to leave the scene in a separate bus.

The bus was headed from the Indio area of the desert near Palm Springs to the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, officials said. Police originally said the bus was coming from Morongo.

The highway was fully reopened by late morning.

This story corrects that the bus was headed from the Indio area of the desert. Police originally said it was coming from the Morongo area.

Paris court to rule in case involving alleged cyberbullying of Brigitte Macron

PARIS (AP) — A Paris court is to rule on Monday in a case involving 10 people accused of cyberbullying French first lady Brigitte Macron by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, allegations her daughter said damaged her health and family life.

The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 60, are accused of posting “numerous malicious comments” falsely claiming that President Emmanuel Macron ’s wife was born a man and linking the 24-year age gap with her husband to pedophilia. Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.

Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October.

Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about what she described as the “deterioration” of her mother’s life since the online harassment intensified. “She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auzière told the court. She said the impact has extended to the entire family, including Macron’s grandchildren.

Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, who is known as Amandine Roy and describes herself as a medium and an author, is considered as having played a major role in spreading the rumor after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.

The X account of Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoé Sagan on social media, was suspended in 2024 after his name was cited in several judicial investigations.

Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were intended as humor or satire and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted. They face up to two years in prison if convicted.

The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother. The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.

The Macrons, who have been married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, 24 years her husband’s senior, was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.

Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been France’s president since 2017.