LAX-Area Crash Kills 1, Hurts 22
A head-on collision between a one-ton van and a parking lot shuttle bus near Los Angeles International Airport killed the van driver and injured 22 people on the bus Thursday morning, officials said.
None of the injuries to the passengers was life-threatening, and most were minor, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.
Los Angeles police said the van was eastbound on the 96th Street bridge over Sepulveda Boulevard when it apparently crossed the center line and struck the westbound bus about 9:50 a.m.
“The impact was so severe that it destroyed the van and trapped its driver inside,” Humphrey said. Rescuers worked for 15 minutes with a hydraulic tool to extract him.
Police said the van driver, a 49-year-old Los Angeles resident, was taken to the Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, where he was pronounced dead. His name was withheld pending notification of relatives.
Humphrey said the bus, one of several that shuttles people between passenger terminals and the airport’s Parking Lot C on 96th Street, was heavily damaged.
Seat belts are not required on commercial buses, and airport shuttles don’t have them.
The 96th Street bridge was closed for about five hours.
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