Tour bus company involved in fatal crash ordered shut down

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Scapadas Magicas LLC, the company that owns the tour bus involved in the deadly crash Sunday on California 38 that killed eight people and left dozens injured, is ‘an imminent hazard to public safety’ and must close immediately, federal officials said Friday.

‘After the tragic crash earlier this week ... investigators quickly inspected this carrier’s other two buses which had been operated on U.S. roads, and immediately shut them down,’ Anne S. Ferro of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in a news release.

‘Today, we’ve officially blocked the company from conducting future operations in the United States,’ Ferro said.

PHOTOS: Fatal crash of tour bus

According to the release from the U.S. Department of Transportation, investigators ‘also found that the company had failed to ensure that its vehicles were systematically inspected, repaired and maintained, and that its drivers were properly qualified and licensed, contrary to information provided by company officials in January 2013.’

The tour bus had left Mexico on Feb. 3 for a trip to Big Bear. On the return trip, about 4 miles north of Yucaipa, the bus crashed on California 38, striking two other vehicles.

Seven passengers aboard the bus and one other person were killed.

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-- Ari Bloomekatz