A bus carrying teens and young adults returning from a church camp in the Southern California mountains has lost control and tipped onto its side while driving down a winding mountain road, sending 20 people to the hospital.

The bus began to shake and swerve then rocked side to side before toppling over, said Cyntia Ramirez, a 21-year-old community college student who was on board.

She recalled the accident while picking up her stray luggage from the Orange County church that organised the weekend retreat at a camp in the San Bernardino Mountains.

A youth leader from the trip pulled her out of a hatch on the roof, she said.

“It’s just a freak accident,” Ramirez said.

The bus with 36 people on board crashed at a curve on two-lane highway near Running Springs, about 113 kilometres north

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