Highway pole rips through bus in Calif. crash, killing 5

ATWATER, Calif. (AP) — A bus veered off a central California highway before dawn today and struck a pole that sliced the vehicle nearly in half, killing five people and sending at least five more to hospitals, some with lost limbs, authorities said.

Rescuers pulled out "bags of body parts" from the survivors of the crash on State Route 99, where the speeding bus carrying about 30 people hit the pole of a highway exit sign head-on, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said. It sheared straight through bus, stopping at the first rear axle "with a great impact," he said.

Emergency workers climbed in through the windows to pull out trapped passengers. Others were ejected and were lying in a ditch, Warnke said.

The violent collision woke up Leonardo Sanchez, who found himself in chaos: Fellow passengers were screaming and crying. Some couldn't move, and many were calling out for help, he said.

"We couldn't pull people out because there was shattered glass everywhere, seats destroyed," the Arvin, Calif., resident said.

Sanchez said he and others who were not severely hurt left the bus right away, fearing that it might catch fire. The 55-year-old said he was left with pain in his stomach and a bruised jaw and mouth.