Two people who died in charter bus crash were from Spokane area

Two of the four people who died in a head-on crash involving a charter bus Sunday on state Route 28 east of Wenatchee were from the Spokane area.

The 66-year-old Spokane man driving the bus was identified as Michael W. Meacham, according to an updated Washington State Patrol news release Thursday. Meacham died at the scene.

A passenger on the bus, 83-year-old Spokane Valley resident Amelia Montoya, died upon her arrival at Confluence Health Hospital in Wenatchee, WSP wrote. Montoya was one of eight passengers on the bus taken to a hospital with injuries.

Seven of the 18 people on the bus, not including Meacham and Montoya, are from Spokane or Spokane Valley.

The names of two 17-year-olds in a Toyota Camry, which tried to pass a vehicle before colliding with the bus, have been withheld because they’re minors, WSP said in the release. Both teens, of East Wenatchee, Washington, died at the scene.

The driver and two child passengers of a third vehicle struck in the collision were uninjured, according to WSP.

The Northwestern Stage Lines bus was on its regularly scheduled route from Seattle to Spokane, owner Jacob Price said in an email earlier this week.

A news release from the Spokane-based company described Meacham as “talented and dedicated.”

“Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and everyone affected by this heartbreaking event,” the statement said.

The crash is under investigation.