As the National Transportation Safety Board investigated a Greyhound bus crash in San Jose that left two women dead and several people injured, the identifies of the victims were released Wednesday.
The bus, which had initially departed from downtown Los Angeles, crashed Tuesday morning on the northbound 101 Freeway while transitioning onto the HOV connector to State Route 85 in San Jose, according to officials.
Fely Olivera, a 51-year-old resident of San Francisco, and Maria de Jesus Ortiz Velasquez, a 76-year-old resident of Salinas in Monterey County, were ejected from the bus and killed.
Olivera was identified Wednesday by officials with the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office.
The coroner’s office would not confirm Velasquez’s identity, although it had previously been released to the Los Angeles Times, because officials later realized not all of her “next of kin” had been notified.
Eighteen people were injured during the crash, including five who sustained possibly life-threatening injuries, a fire official said Tuesday.
A Greyhound spokeswoman said 21 people were on the bus at the time.
The driver, 58-year-old Gary Bonslater of Victorville, said he was fatigued at the time of the crash, but did not indicate that he had fell asleep, according to the California Highway Patrol.
There was no initial indication that alcohol and/or drugs played a role in the crash, the CHP also stated.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday that a team will be sent to investigate the cause of the crash.
The crash occurred when the bus left the road for unknown reasons, collided with several large attenuator barrels at the base of the ramp, overturned onto its right side and came to a rest atop the concrete medium, CHP said.
The bus had left downtown L.A. Monday night, and was set to make stops in Avenal, Gilroy, San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland, Greyhound’s website showed.
It crashed between the Gilroy and San Jose stops, Greyhound spokeswoman Lanesha Gipson said.