PENDLETON, Ore. -- A federal agency has sent two investigators to the site of an Eastern Oregon tour bus crash that killed nine people on an icy stretch of road known as Cabbage Hill or Deadman Pass.
Victims ranged in age from 7 to 74, and were from the U.S. Canada, Korea, and Japan, police said.
Oregon State Police say 56-year-old John Choi is being treated at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. A hospital spokeswoman says he is in serious condition.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it would look into the conditions on Interstate 84 and the guardrail the tour bus crashed through Sunday morning. It also will examine the operations of the Vancouver, British Columbia, bus carrier.
Authorities said in a Monday news conference they believed the 1998-model bus hit a concrete barrier on the left-hand side of the westbound lane, then swerved to the right and crashed through a guardrail before tumbling about 200 feet down an embankment, rolling at least once.
Everybody was either thrown from the bus or in the bus. We had several who were entrapped in the bus and we had to perform extraction to disentangle them to remove them, said Pendleton Fire Chief Gary Woodson.
Twenty-two-year-old Berlyn Sanderson of Canada says windows on the bus broke as it careened down the embankment, and she and a number of others were thrown out. She said the bus began skidding on ice before it hit the guardrail.
Authorities say crews trained for rope rescues were at the scene helping retrieve people from the wreckage.
Umatilla County emergency managers said the response from medics and rescue crews was overwhelming. Several victims had to be loaded onto stretchers and hauled up to waiting ambulances.
The bus driver, Haeng Kyu Hwang, 54, of Vancouver, British Columbia, was among the survivors, but has severe injuries that made it impossible to communicate with investigators. The Associated Press reported the driver likely had a medical episode.
Police say 48 people were on the bus, including the driver. Nine people died in the crash. The names of the deceased are being withheld by the state medical examiner until identities are confirmed and next of kin have been notified.
Reports indicate the bus was traveling from Las Vegas to Vancouver and had just passed through Boise a few hours prior to the crash.
On Monday, 14 passengers remained at nearby St. Anthony hospital in Pendleton. Sixteen had been sent to other hospitals. Seven were discharged Sunday and are in the care of the Red Cross.
A passenger tells The Oregonian newspaper the bus was carrying mostly exchange students from South Korea.
Oregon State Police Lt. Greg Hastings said a language barrier caused difficulties for rescuers.
This tragedy extends definitely beyond the borders of our state ... it s touched many lives, Hastings said during Monday's press briefing. He called it a horrible, tragic crash.
Here is a list of the names of 39 people on the bus that were taken to hospitals in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as provided by Oregon State Police.
Family members are asked to check the list and call the hospital listed for further information.
If a name is not on the list, a family representative can call (503) 375-3555.
Pendleton, Oregon (St. Anthony Hospital: 541-276-5121)
* Haeng Kyu Hwang, age 54 (male - Vancouver, British Columbia) - bus driver
* Do Woo (Peter) Kim, age 16 (male)
* Hyoung Jin Yoo, age 23 (male) - treated and released
* Young Hyun Yoon, age 14 (male) - treated and released
* Seong Jun An, age 15 (male) - treated and released
* Hyejin Kim, age 40 (female)
* Min Su Kim, age 15 (male - Korean passport) - treated and released
* Junichi Hanada, age 21 (male)
* Youn Bahn, age 66 (male)
* June Lee Seong, age 22 (female)
* Tae Woo Park, age 16 (male - Korean passport) - treated and released
* Soomin Kim, age 12 (female)
* Jimin Kim, age 7 (female)
* Yoon Kim, age 44 (male)
* Seongho Jo, age 18 (male - Korean passport)
* Eunsil Koh, age 47 (female - Cloverdale, British Columbia)
* Jong Hyun Chae, age 16 (male) - treated and released
* Byung Woo Yoo, age 25 (?) - treated and released
* 65-year old female (Name withheld pending confirmation family notified)
* Unidentified male, 20 - 25 years of age
La Grande, Oregon (Grand Ronde Hospital: 541-963-8421)
* Berlyn Sanderson, age 22 (female - Kelowna, British Columbia) - treated and released
* Rachel Sohn, age 53 (female)
* Yii Yeon Cho, age 73 (Sex to be determined)
* Jacmin Seo, age 23 (male - Korean passport)
Hermiston, Oregon (Good Shepherd Hospital: 541-677-3400)
* Kang SeoKwon, age 24 - treated and released
* Alysah Koh, age 21 (British Columbia) - treated and released
Seattle, Washington (Harborview Medical Center: 206-744-3300)
* 53-year old female (Name withheld pending confirmation family notified)
Portland, Oregon (Oregon Health & Science University: 503-494-8311)
* June Won Kim, age 46 (male - Vancouver, BC)
* Sungsup Kim, age 45, (male - Port Coquiitlam, BC)
* Michael Sohn, age 64, (male - Milwaukie, Oregon)
* 55-year old female (Name withheld pending confirmation)
Tri-Cities, Washington (Kadlec Medical Center: 509-946-4611)
* Yoonhee Choi, age 53 (female)
Walla Walla, Washington (St Mary Medical Center: 509-525-3320)
* Eun Sook Uhm, age 74, (female)
* Choon-Sook Yang, age 67 (female - Issaquah, Washington)
* Hee Eun Kim, age 46 (female - Burnaby, Canada)
Walla Walla, Washington (Walla Walla General Hospital: 509-525-0480)
* Victoria Huang, age 22 (female)
* Shelly Tu, age 23 (female)
Portland, Oregon (Legacy Emanuel Medical Center: 503-413-2200)
* Man Sun Kim, age 71 (male - Seattle, Washington)
