Passengers of a Greyhound bus that crashed in San Bernardino after a man grabbed the steering wheel recounted the scary moments. Kate Larsen reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on July 4, 2015.
A Greyhound bus crashed into a ditch on the westbound 10 Freeway in San Bernardino Saturday after a passenger grabbed the steering wheel.
The crash was reported just before 3 p.m., a California Highway Patrol dispatcher told NBC4.
Some people escaped the Los Angeles-bound bus after breaking windows. The bus trip originated in Phoenix, according to Greyhound spokeswoman Lanesha Gipson.
"People were flying over my head and screaming and we were bouncing," said passenger Maurice Glover. "There was gas and smoke and people were kicking the windows out, panicking because we thought we were going to explode."
Five people were taken to local hospitals for minor to moderate injuries, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. There were 23 people on board the bus at the time of the crash, including the driver.
Bossie Manning was one of those five passengers taken to the hospital after the crash with minor injuries. He said Greyhound paid for his cab from the hospital in San Bernardino to LA.
He was shaken up, he said, and with an injured leg and high blood pressure, he said he was worried about getting on another bus to Washington state, his final destination.
"I don't know if I want to get on one. Everything flashed in front of me, everything," he said.
The passenger who grabbed the wheel was described as in his 20s. He fled the bus through the windshield after the crash and was later found in the parking lot of a nearby Olive Garden.
Both Glover and Manning said the man was wearing a hospital bracelet when they boarded the bus.
"Before we got on the bus, I guess the guy said to the driver, 'I don't feel OK, I got out of the hospital,'" said Glover.
Passengers said they did not blame the bus driver.
"It wasn't the driver's fault. It was just some guy, I don't know what his problem was," Andre Richardson told NBC4. His ankle was injured in the crash, and he limped to his sister's van after finally arriving in LA.
His sister said she was just happy to have him there safe after the ordeal.
"Well, I'm happy he's OK and everybody is here," she said.