In brief: California wrong-way crash kills 6, police say
DIAMOND BAR, Calif. – A wrong-way driver on a Southern California freeway was arrested Sunday after being accused of causing a pre-dawn crash that left six people dead, authorities said.
Olivia Culbreath, 21, of Fontana, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and manslaughter in connection with the early morning crash on state Route 60 in this suburb east of Los Angeles, California Highway Patrol Officer Rodrigo Jimenez said.
Authorities said Culbreath was traveling east in the westbound lanes of the freeway around 4:40 a.m. when the Chevrolet Camaro driven by Culbreath collided head-on with a Ford Explorer. Another vehicle was also involved in the accident, Jimenez said.
Four people were pronounced dead at the scene, and two people died after being taken to the hospital, he said.
The victims included a 24-year-old woman from Chino and a 24-year-old woman from Rialto, Los Angeles County coroner’s Lt. Fred Corral told the Los Angeles Times. Both were passengers in Culbreath’s car. Another victim, a 47-year-old man, is believed to have been a passenger in the Ford Explorer.
Four fraternity brothers die in collision
TAMPA, Fla. – A sport utility vehicle traveling the wrong way on a Florida interstate collided head-on with a sedan early Sunday, killing five people, including four fraternity brothers at the University of South Florida, authorities said.
The accident happened on Interstate 275 in Tampa around 2 a.m. Sunday. The SUV was going the wrong way and hit a Hyundai Sonata, which was carrying four members of the fraternity Sigma Beta Rho. The SUV driver was also killed.
Authorities identified the fraternity brothers as: Jobin Joy Kuriakose, 21, Ankeet Harshad Patel, 22, Imtiyaz “Jim” Ilias, 20, and Dammie Yesudhas, 21. Florida Highway Patrol officials said they were struggling to identify the male SUV driver late Sunday because of extensive injuries from the fire.
Bus accident injures more than two dozen
CUMBERLAND VALLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. – A tour bus going too fast on a snow-covered road crashed in southwestern Pennsylvania Sunday, sending more than 20 passengers to the hospital with minor injuries, officials said.
State police said bus driver Terrence Harold Shultz, 65, lost control and crashed into an embankment around 2:20 p.m. on Route 220 in Cumberland Valley Township, about five miles from the Maryland border.
The bus was traveling “at a speed that was greater than is reasonable and prudent for the condition,” according to the state police report. Officials did not say how fast the bus was traveling.
Twenty-six of the 33 passengers on the bus were taken to two hospitals in the area and all but three with minor injuries were treated and released, hospital officials said.
The bus, owned by Freedom Excursions in Altoona, was headed to the Rocky Gap Casino Resort in western Maryland.
22,000 remain without power after storm
PHILADELPHIA – About 22,000 utility customers in eastern Pennsylvania remain in the dark four days after an ice storm knocked down trees and snapped power lines as yet another winter storm comes through the region.
Between 1 and 3 inches of snow blanketed the area Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
The number of customers without power has dropped from a peak of about 850,000 after Wednesday’s storm. Most of the outages are in the Philadelphia area.