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12 Students Hurt in Van, Truck Crash in San Juan

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Times Staff Writer

About a dozen students from the Capistrano Valley Christian School received minor injuries when a pickup truck collided with the van transporting them from school Thursday.

The incident in San Juan Capistrano occurred about 3:15 p.m. when the driver of a silver Nissan pickup trying to make a left turn from Camino del Avion onto Del Obispo Street cut off the van, which was traveling straight on Camino del Avion, said California Highway Patrol Officer Greg Moorehead.

None of the students were seriously injured although several students received minor cuts and bruises, said Ronald Blaul, battalion chief with the Orange County Fire Department.

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Four Taken to Hospital

Four students were taken toMission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, where they were treated and released, hospital officials said. The rest were treated at the scene.

The students in the van ranged in age from about 8 to 13, said Pam Cleveland, dispatch supervisor for the buses.

The driver of the truck, David Barry, 17, of Laguna Niguel, was not cited in the incident. Michelle Sommers, 19, of San Juan Capistrano, a passenger in the truck, was taken to Mission Hospital for observation and later released. And passenger Michael Muscarella, 18, of San Juan Capistrano, was treated at the scene.

Muscarella said he, Sommers and Barry were coming from the beach when the accident happened.

“We’re OK though, just a little shook up. It just happened really fast,” he said at the accident.

Ronald Yorba, who was driving the van, was taken to San Clemente Hospital for X-rays and later released.

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“I was about 100-feet behind him when I saw the bus swerve,” said Shawn Kumar, who was carrying another busload of children. “My window was rolled up and I just heard a muffled sound. . . . The next thing I know I just saw him (Yorba) hit something and saw a truck coming this way,” she said.

The accident slowed down traffic along the southbound side of Del Obispo Street for about half a mile while traffic was detoured long Camino del Avion, CHP officers said.

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