An 89-year-old woman died after a tour bus caught fire on the eastbound Pomona (60) Freeway near Hacienda Heights, California, early Friday, August 21, 2026. The California Highway Patrol says the Mercedes-Benz tour bus began experiencing mechanical problems around 5:38 a.m., and the driver pulled onto the right shoulder east of Hacienda Boulevard after noticing smoke coming from the rear engine compartment. The driver evacuated the other passengers, but one woman was not accounted for until firefighters extinguished the blaze and found her body aboard the bus. A second passenger was hospitalized. Two right-hand lanes of the eastbound freeway were shut down for several hours while crews investigated and cleared the scene.
According to MyNewsLA, the victim was later identified by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner as Marina Diaz de Pacheco, 89. KESQ reported that video from the scene showed the rear portion of the bus badly burned, and that the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded alongside CHP to fight the flames. The cause of the mechanical failure that led to the fire had not been determined as of the initial reports, and no citations had been announced. Passengers and their families may have legal options against the bus operator or a maintenance contractor if a defect or inspection failure is later confirmed.
