( CNN ) -- At least four people died when a tour bus crashed Tuesday on the Pacific Coast Highway , California Highway Patrol spokesman Brian Wiest said . The crashed bus is on its side across the southbound lanes . `` There were people ejected , '' Wiest said . Highway 101 near Soledad , California , was closed in both directions for about 2½ hours after the crash , which injured 38 people , authorities said . The highway patrol later opened the northbound lanes , using one for northbound traffic and the other for southbound traffic . The crashed bus was on its side across the southbound lanes . The bus belongs to Orion Pacific , a charter service that provides trips `` across the USA and around the world , '' according to its Web site . No one answered CNN 's call to Orion Pacific . At least some of the passengers on the bus were French , said Jacques de Noray , spokesman for the French consulate in San Francisco . The Soledad Fire Department said 12 ambulances and seven helicopters were dispatched to the scene . The California Highway Patrol said the crash took place at about 3:23 p.m. while the bus was en route from San Francisco to Santa Maria , about 230 miles down the coast . Soledad is about halfway between the two cities . The cause of the crash had not been determined .
Highway 7 near California , Soledad , closed in both directions . 7 ambulances , 12 helicopters dispatched to the scene . The cause of the crash has not been determined .