Boy Killed, Brother Hurt by School Van

A 9-year-old boy was killed and his 5-year-old brother was critically injured Wednesday afternoon when the bicycle they were riding veered into the street and was hit by a school van in South-Central Los Angeles, authorities said.

A spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, which investigates all school bus accidents, said the 5-year-old was riding on the handlebars.

The driver of the 18-passenger van, which was carrying just one student, was not at fault and was not charged, investigators said.

The boys were hit by the van in the 900 block of East 114th Street. They were taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where the 9-year-old was pronounced dead upon arrival. The 5-year-old was reported in critical condition at the hospital Wednesday night.

“Apparently the children, who were on the bicycle, attempted to ride across the street,” said CHP spokesman Richard Perez. “Witnesses said they darted into the path of the van before the driver could react. There was nothing the driver could do.”

The bus was traveling west on 114th Street, Perez said. He said the boys were eastbound on the sidewalk when the bike suddenly shot into the street from between two parked vans.