Teen Injured on Double-Decker Bus Dies

A 16-year-old boy died today from injuries sustained when his head struck an overpass in El Segundo as he was standing up on the top deck of a double-decker tour bus, a coroner's investigator said.

The boy was identified as Mason Zisette of Manhattan Beach, said coroner's Investigator Joseph Cronin.

Zisette died at 5:23 p.m. at Harbor UCLA Medical Center, Cronin said.

• Friends of Mason Zisette took to Twitter to share their heartfelt condolences. You can read some of them above in the Storify box.

Gage Stroman, of Manhattan Beach, said he was among a group of people who carried the boy to the bottom deck, where he was treated by paramedics and taken to a nearby hospital.

Stroman, 17, challenged reports that emergency responders found the injured youth lying on the  shoulder of the San Diego (405) Freeway north of El Segundo Boulevard -- near where the accident happened at about 7:45 p.m. Friday.

"That makes it sound like he was knocked off the bus onto the 405," Stroman said. "That's not what happened. We took him downstairs on the bus and that's where he stayed until help arrived."

Stroman said he and the injured teen where among a group of South Bay students celebrating another passenger's birthday. He said he was near the boy when the accident occurred, but didn't see what happened.

"I heard a scream and looked up and he was down," Stroman said. "We all ran over to him."

NBC4 reported that the Starline Tours bus was traveling about 45 mph when the youth stood and was struck by the Arbor Vitae Street overpass.

--City News Service