Chualar bus crash | |
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Details | |
Date | September 17, 1963 |
Location | Chualar, California, U.S. |
Coordinates | 36°33′14.24″N 121°30′10.44″W / 36.5539556°N 121.5029000°W[1] |
Incident type | Grade crossing collision |
Cause | Bus driver negligence |
Statistics | |
Vehicles |
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Deaths | 32 |
Injured | 25 |
The Chualar bus crash took place on September 17, 1963, when a freight train collided with a makeshift "bus"— a flatbed truck with two long benches and a canopy— carrying 58 migrant farmworkers on a railroad crossing outside Chualar in the Salinas Valley, California, United States, killing 32 people and injuring 25. [2][3] Because the vehicle was actually a truck carrying people in the back, rather than a bus, the crash is ranked as the deadliest automobile accident in U.S. history, according to the National Safety Council.[1][4][5]
The collision was a factor in the decision by Congress in 1964 to terminate the bracero program, despite its strong support among farmers. It also helped spur the Chicano Civil Rights Movement.[4][6]
Galarza report
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