Los Angeles [US], December 13: Twenty-two people were injured when a bus crashed early Monday on I-84 near Tremonton, a city located about 120 kilometers north of Salt Lake City, capital of the U.S. state of Utah.
The bus with 33 people on board was eastbound around local time 4:30 a.m. local time when the driver apparently was changing lanes and lost control on the slick road, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden was quoted by the local KSL.com news website as saying.
Photos of the scene posted online showed the empty bus sideways on a snow bed of about 20 centimeters after the passengers were transferred to nearby hospitals.
Two people were reported in critical condition, Roden said.
The accident occurred when a winter blaze is making its way through 14 states from California to Mississippi, which are on winter weather alerts as fears of blizzards, avalanches and tornados linger.
With California taking the first hit, about 5 feet (1.52 meters) of snow and a wind gust of 165 mph (265 kph) were found in the Lake Tahoe area, according to The Weather Channel.
I-80, an east-west transcontinental freeway that crosses the country from downtown San Francisco in California to Teaneck of New Jersey, has been cut off due to the storm since Saturday.
Reopening of the key route remained unknown as snow continues to fall on Monday. Moreover, avalanche warning was issued in the region.
"Several feet of new snow and strong winds will result in dangerous avalanche conditions in the mountains," CBS News reported Monday. "Avalanche activity could be widespread, and some avalanches could be large and destructive."
Source: Xinhua