Tour bus plunges off cliff near Shandon, one dead and seven injured

September 19, 2019

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

One person was killed and seven others suffered injuries after the tour bus transporting country singer Josh Turner’s road crew plunged off an approximately 50-foot cliff near Shandon late Wednesday night.

Earlier in the night, Turner performed at Vina Robles in Paso Robles. Turner and his band were not on the bus at the time of the crash

Shortly before midnight, the tour bus, a Prevost XL2, was traveling eastbound on Highway 46 just east of McMillan Canyon Road at about 50 to 60 mph, when for unknown reasons, the vehicle drove off the roadway, according to the CHP.

The bus continued along a dirt shoulder, driving through a barbed wire fence and dense vegetation for about 200 yards, before plunging off a cliff.

 

Upon impact, the front of the bus struck the bottom of a dry river bed, ejecting to two passengers, one of whom died.

Seven other people on the bus suffered moderate to severe injuries and were transported to hospitals, including Twin Cities Community Hospital and Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center.

Officials are currently withholding the identity of the person who died. The CHP has thus far identified the five people injured in the crash as: Carl Hadin, Bradley Dratnol, Justin Lambert, Jed Downing and Richard Lazarus.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing.