Senior Citizens’ Bus Crashes on Wilshire; 8 Hurt

Seven elderly people and their driver were injured today when their small shuttle bus collided with a tow truck and overturned in Beverly Hills.

Police said none of the injuries appeared serious, and officials at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Beverly Hills Medical Center said that all the victims were likely to be released later in the day.

Hospital officials said most of the injured suffered cuts, bruises and other minor wounds and their condition ranged from fair to good. The identities of the injured people were withheld until their families could be notified, said a hospital spokeswoman.

The crash happened at about 9 a.m. at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Willaman Drive when the minibus apparently tried to make a left turn in front of the flat-bed tow truck, police Lt. Frank Sarver said. The tow truck slammed into the right-rear quarter of the bus, flipping it over and ejecting one passenger, he said.

The tow-truck driver, William A. Mora, 20, who was uninjured in the wreck, was arrested on two outstanding warrants from previous traffic violations, Sarver said. The bus, operated by the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, was enroute to a daycare center.

Wilshire Boulevard, a main east-west Los Angeles artery, was blocked off for two hours while the wreckage was cleared.