Bus Collides With Truck, Injuring 25 : Sylmar: Police say the MTA driver swerved when the other vehicle turned in front of him. The crash caused a power outage.

An MTA bus collided with a light truck, jumped a curb and rammed a utility pole Friday, injuring 25 people--one seriously--and causing a widespread power outage, authorities reported.

The driver of the truck, Charlesetta Wiley, 35, was listed in serious condition at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.

The other victims, including two pregnant women, were passengers on the bus. Fifteen were taken to San Fernando Valley hospitals with minor injuries. Others were treated at the scene, said Bob Collis, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The accident also left about 800 nearby residents and businesses without power for several hours, said Dorothy Jensen, spokeswoman for the Department of Water and Power.

The collision occurred shortly after noon at the intersection of Glenoaks Boulevard and Roxford Street.

The bus, carrying 30 passengers, was traveling west on Roxford when a light truck headed east on Roxford made a left turn in front of the bus, Los Angeles police said.

Witnesses said the bus driver began swerving to the right, apparently in an attempt to avoid a more direct impact.

“The driver of the vehicle was at fault,” said Sgt. Monte Houze of the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division. “She tried to beat the light.”

After colliding with the vehicle, a Mazda Navajo, the bus went over the curb, struck a utility pole, then went partially over a three-foot retaining wall in front of a shopping center.

Martha Aguilar, 43, and her mother, Maria, 66, were seated near the front of the bus when they felt a sudden impact, first of the crash, then of bodies falling forward.

“I fell on top of my mother and other people fell on top of me,” Aguilar said.

Flying glass from broken windows showered passengers as the force of the crash threw them to the floor of the bus. Witnesses said at least five small children were among the passengers.

“There were a lot of people crying and yelling,” Aguilar said. Martha and Maria Aguilar were headed home after a visit to Olive View Medical Center, where Maria saw a doctor for her heart condition. “I couldn’t scream because my daughter was on top of me,” Maria Aguilar said.

Gregorio Garcia, 64, of Mission Hills said he saw nothing, but felt the driver swerving to the right before the crash, a move he said helped prevent a sharper collision and possibly more serious injuries.

“Thank God nobody died,” he said.

The Aguilars and Garcia were treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center for minor injuries and released.

A woman who was nine months pregnant was taken to Olive View Medical Center after complaining of abdominal pain. The woman, whose name was not released, was in stable condition later Friday.

For nearby merchants at Garrett Plaza, the collision was a close call.

“It sounded like (the bus) was coming right through the store, and then there were bright lights like fireworks in the daytime,” said Tony Lewis, 43, of Valencia, who owns El Rancho Plaza Market.

“I’ve never seen an accident this bad.”

Passersby assisted bus passengers and the driver of the Mazda until police and fire officials arrived.

“Both doors of the bus were jammed and there were all of these women and children and some older people inside,” said Ricardo Sepulveda, 28, of North Hollywood. “We pulled it open and there was a child who looked like he had a broken arm.”

Postal carrier Steve Garfinkel, who stopped to help, said the Mazda driver spoke to him as he tried to free her from the wreckage. “She asked me to hold her and she asked me if I was Jesus,” said Garfinkel, who has a beard.

Garfinkel said he also directed traffic around live power lines that fell into the street when the utility pole was hit.

The bus--on the No. 94 line from Los Angeles to San Fernando and Sylmar--was driven by William Thomas Liddell, of Pacoima, said MTA spokeswoman Andrea Greene. He was uninjured, witnesses said.

Times staff writers Julio Moran, Tracey Kaplan, Vivien Chen, Jeanette Regalado and special correspondent Jeff Schnaufer contributed to this story.