Father, Son Killed by Runaway Bus; 9 Others Injured

A father and young son in a van were killed and nine people in a city bus were injured, one of them critically, when the brakes on the bus failed and it slammed into the back of the van in the Los Feliz district Tuesday, officials said.

Witnesses said the van was stopped beside the curb in front of an apartment house in the 1200 block of North Vermont Avenue at about 2:45 p.m. when the DASH bus, weaving through traffic after its brakes gave out, slammed into the van from behind.

The impact drove the van about 100 feet down the road and into the side of a medical building, crushing the van almost beyond recognition and staving in the front of the bus.

The father was trapped in the wreckage of the van and died at the scene. The son, who was exiting the van when he was struck, died a short time later at a local hospital, city fire officials said.

All nine people aboard the bus, including the driver, were injured. Eight suffered minor injuries, and several were treated at the scene and released. Others were taken to local hospitals. Authorities did not release the names of any of the victims.

Ana Bravo, 24, a medical student who worked in another medical building across the street, ran to the side of the severely injured boy.

“He was trying to get up, and I told him to stay down,” she said.

Bravo said the boy’s mother emerged screaming from the apartment building. Bystanders did their best to calm and restrain her.

The father and son were not identified, but neighbors said the man and son lived with the boy’s mother and another son in the apartment house. The neighbors said the family had been about to drive to Santa Monica to sell some Pokemon cards at a store there.