Gamblers’ Bus Hits Van; 2 Dead At Least 41 Injured When Casino Shuttle Plunges Into Creek After Collision

A bus carrying dozens of gamblers to a Colorado casino collided head-on with a van and plunged into a creek Sunday, killing two passengers. At least 41 people were injured.

The bus was heading northwest on two-lane Colorado 119 when the van tried to pass a vehicle in the opposite lane and crossed over. An open whiskey bottle and several beer cans were found in the van, said Sgt. Ron Woods of the Colorado State Patrol.

The collision sent the bus veering off the road and into Clear Creek, where it landed on its side on a stretch of dry creek bed.

At least two people trapped under a boulder were screaming for help, said Jennifer Manley, a nurse who stopped at the accident site 35 miles northwest of Denver.

“I was trying every little thing I could do with no equipment to assess to see what injuries people had,” she said. “Everyone was covered with blood.”

Passers-by formed a human chain and passed the bus passengers up the embankment to the roadside.

The dead were two women who were among the 42 people on the bus. The van driver, William J. Lucero, 36, was critically injured. It was not immediately clear whether he was alone in the van.

At least six other people sustained serious or critical injuries, officials said. The bus driver Kalen Schlotterbeck, 57, was in fair condition.

The shuttle bus was carrying gamblers from Golden to Black Hawk and Central City, two Colorado communities where limited-stakes gambling is allowed.