8 Hurt as SUV, Van Collide

A van carrying special education students to a private South Los Angeles school collided with a sport utility vehicle Wednesday morning, injuring eight people, none seriously, authorities said.

The crash occurred about 7:40 a.m. as the school van was making a left turn from South Hoover Street onto West 79th Street and was broadsided by the SUV heading north on Hoover, the California Highway Patrol said. The impact shattered the windows on the right side of the van and knocked it into vehicle waiting at a traffic signal.

Three of the teenage students in the van were taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center for treatment of moderate injuries. Three others were treated at the scene, as were the driver of the SUV and her 8-year-old passenger, the CHP said.

The noise from the collision brought neighbor Pamela Udeh rushing to her front door, just steps from the intersection.

“I looked out, and I saw one young lady hanging out over the window of the bus, with blood running down her arm,” said Udeh, who said she called 911 before running out the door to see if she could help.

“There were kids lying in the back of the bus, but nobody was screaming -- they all looked to be in shock,” Udeh said, adding that she had long been concerned about safety at the intersection.

She said there have been at least one or two collisions per month, including one two days ago, during the three years she has lived in her apartment.

The van was picking up students on its route to the San Pedro Academy on West Manchester Avenue when the accident occurred.

Seven students, ages 13 to 18, were on board, and all but one suffered at least minor injuries, according to a CHP spokesman on the scene, Officer Alex Delgadillo.

Although no arrests were made, the CHP is investigating, Delgadillo said.

A woman who answered the phone at the school later Wednesday said all the students who had been in the van were “doing fine.”