(Reuters) - Officials in Northern California on Wednesday revised down the death toll from a charter bus crash the day before to four from five.
California Highway Patrol spokesman Moises Onsurez said Tuesday's incorrect tally was due to miscommunication between emergency personnel at the chaotic scene of the crash.
"Upon arriving on scene, the extent and amount of injuries, in addition to how many passengers were about the scene, and also the amount of emergency personnel -- there was just miscommunication," Onsurez said.
The bus, en route to Sacramento from Southern California on State Route 99, crashed into a pole near the town of Livingston at about 3:30 a.m. PDT on Monday, officials said.
Images from Sacramento television station KCRA showed the pole for an exit sign had sliced the bus lengthwise from its front to its middle.
The Merced County Coroner's Office identified the four dead as Jose Morales Bravo, 68; Fernando Ramirez, 57; Petra Carillo Ruiz, 64; and Jaime de los Santos, 38.
Twenty-seven people were aboard the bus at the time of the crash, Onsurez said, all of whom were hurt and several of whom were airlifted to area hospitals. The bus driver was among seven people who suffered major injuries, Onsurez said.
Highway Patrol officials said the cause of the crash was under investigation and the National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team to probe the incident.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sandra Maler)
