crash

Memorial Grows for 13 Killed in Palm Springs Tour Bus Crash

"I'm praying for the people who are fighting for their lives," said a friend of one of the victims

Mourners gathered at a bus stop in Los Angeles' Koreatown to remember and pray for those who were killed and injured in a tour bus crash on Sunday near Palm Springs. 

Candles were placed at the bus stop to honor the 13 passengers who were killed and the 31 others who were injured when their tour bus slammed into a semi-truck early Sunday morning. 

Delia Sanchez, who survived the crash with minor injuries, showed up at the memorial Sunday evening to be with friends. 

Her face β€” with bruises and cuts visible around her eye and lip β€” are marks of survival. She said she was sitting four seats behind the driver.

"We all feel really bad," she said through a translator.

Sanchez and most of the other passengers were asleep when the bus, headed to LA from the Red Earth Casino in Salton City, crashed into the truck on Interstate 10 so fast the truck's trailer was embedded 15 feet into the bus. 

Sanchez added that she feels horrible for the lives lost β€” including the driver, who many at the vigil said they knew for years. 

"After I got the news ... [I] bought a candle and I came straight up here to show my respects," said Sheila Ashley, who has riden the bus before. 

Another person who attended the vigil was Rosa Esmeralda Venegas, who lost her best friend of 17 years in the crash and is now caring for her granddaughter.

"I'm praying for the people who are fighting for their lives," Venegas said in Spanish.

The California Highway Patrol said Sunday the bus was operated by Los Angeles-based USA Holiday. A phone message The Associated Press left for the company was not immediately returned. A Facebook message from USA Holiday said it did not have much information about the crash.

Neighbors told NBC4 that the owner of the bus company lived in Alhambra and was a father who was running a small family business. 

As of late Sunday night, the identities of those killed in the crash had not yet been released by the coroner's office. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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