Tour Bus Crash on 60 Freeway Leaves 1 Dead, 32 Injured

Images of the bus showed substantial damage to the front end of the vehicle following the crash on the 60 Freeway in Hacienda Heights. Image Credit: Los Angeles station KABC

A man was killed and 32 people were injured, including two people in critical condition, after a tour bus rear-ended a Nissan on the 60 Freeway in Hacienda Heights, California.

The crash occurred early Sunday morning, May 11, 2025. According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, units were dispatched at 5:07 a.m. regarding a traffic collision on Hacienda Boulevard, east of downtown Los Angeles.

The SUV had stalled for unknown reasons in the 1st lane on the freeway when the tour bus slammed into the back of it. The Nissan burst into flames due to the collision, trapping the driver inside it. According to the California Highway Patrol, the Nissan driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has yet to be released.

CHP Officer Zachary Salazar said 63 people were aboard the bus, including the driver. The fire did not spread to the bus, but 32 of the 63 passengers were taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries. Of those, 26 were minor injuries and two were taken under critical condition.

A passenger on the bus, Joe Runnel, told KTLA-TV that people were “begging for mercy” in the moments after the crash.

“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 tour bus, which was traveling from Morongo Valley, about 110 miles east of Los Angeles, was heading towards the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. Photos of the scene showed the mangled bus with a shattered windshield leaning along the soft freeway shoulder, with personal belongings and paperwork strewn around it.

The Westbound 60 Freeway was completely shut down between Azusa Avenue and Hacienda Boulevard in the wake of the crash, although authorities were able to reopen some lanes by 7:30 a.m.