(CelebrityAccess) — Investigators are working to determine what caused a deadly tour bus crash on Wednesday night that left one person dead and seven others injured after the bus plunged down a steep embankment.
According to ABC affiliate KABC, the California Highway Patrol has impounded the bus and will be examining it for any mechanical issues. CHP will also be evaluating the driver, 39-year-old Bradley Dratnol, to see if medical conditions could have been a factor in the deadly crash.
The bus, part of a caravan leaving Paso Robles’ Vina Robles Amphitheater following a concert on Wednesday night crashed after it veered off the highway, rolled down a steep slope and landed in a sandy creekbed.
Of the eight people on the bus, 5 sustained minor or moderate injuries, but two passengers were ejected from the vehicle, with one killed and one seriously injured.
According to KSBY-TV, officials named longtime audio engineer David “DT” Turner (no relation) as the person who died in the crash. Production manager Richard Lazarus, who was also ejected from the bus, is in the ICU with a broken back, cracked chest bone and broken legs, according to Nashville’s WKRN.
“They were in the front lounge they noticed the bus started to sway, it felt like they were going off the road. It felt like we were in a 4 wheel drive truck for a second, he goes, and then we had a like a bounce. It was like we hit a real fast speed bump, he said and then the next thing you know we were airborne and I look and he goes I’m literally floating inside the bus as it’s airborne,” Jerry Slone, a friend of Lazarus who spoke to him following the crash told WKRN-TV.
An industry veteran with more than four decades in the business, Dave Turner had worked with a wide range of artists, including Tammy Wynette, Conway Twitty, Hank Jr, and Patty Loveless.
Josh Turner, who was not on the bus, was slated to perform in Yakima, Wash., on Sept. 20th but has canceled all of his shows through the rest of September.
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