Metro driver dies after bus collides with tow truck in downtown L.A.

A sign posted at a bus stop in the 400 block of Broadway pays respect to Metro bus drivers after the death of Olivia Gamboa this week.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Passersby pay their respects at a memorial erected at 5th Street and Broadway for Metro bus driver Olivia Gamboa, who died in a crash this week.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A Metro driver died Wednesday morning after a tow truck smashed into her bus at 5th Street and Broadway downtown, authorities said.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The crash occurred shortly before 5:10 a.m. when the speeding tow truck ran a red light and collided head-on with the bus, said LAPD Sgt. Rudy Lopez.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The collision sent the tow truck careening into a 7-Eleven store, injuring a clerk working there. The clerk was treated at the scene. The storefront was “completely destroyed,” Lopez said. A building inspector was expected to check the integrity of the building where the truck crashed, officials said.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Both drivers had to be removed from their vehicles with the Jaws of Life, a Los Angeles Fire Department official said.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A 7-Eleven worker puts an ice-pack to her face, which was hit by a bottle when a tow truck smashed into her store after hitting a Metro bus.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The tow truck driver was listed in serious condition at a hospital. There were no passengers on the bus at the time of the crash, officials said.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)