Community Grieves, Seeks Answers After Fatal Bus Crash

As community members grieved next to a makeshift memorial Wednesday, authorities launched an investigation to determine what caused a DASH bus to lose control on Vermont Avenue the day before, killing two people in a parked vehicle and injuring 10 others.

The impact of the crash drove the van about 100 feet down the street and into the wall of a building.

Salvador Rivera and his 13-year-old son, Abraham, were in the van, said Rivera’s nephew, Alejandro Romero. Rivera died at the scene and Abraham was pronounced dead at a hospital after he suffered severe trauma to the head and abdomen, authorities said.

Nine passengers and a pedestrian were injured, police and fire officials said. The bus driver, Walnut resident Lilia Bran, appeared to have suffered only minor injuries, Los Angeles Police Officer Charles Rodriguez said.

The accident, which occurred near Lexington Avenue, was the deadliest in the 10-year history of the DASH bus system. The small DASH buses operate downtown and in densely populated neighborhoods.

Romero, who was moved to tears as he remembered the uncle he grew up with, said he is upset with the speed of buses as they travel on Vermont. “They think this is a highway,” Romero said.

Speed will be one of the issues investigated by city officials.

“At this point we don’t know what the cause of the accident was,” said James Okazaki, assistant general manager for the Los Angeles Department of Transit. The agency is launching an investigation along with Milwaukee-based First Transit Inc., a private company that provides maintenance and drivers for the DASH buses.

Okazaki said city mechanics would join police in the investigation. He said he was not aware of a pattern of brake problems on DASH buses. According to LAPD reports, Bran said the brakes failed when she was driving the bus.