24 Are Injured in Collision of MTA Bus and Catering Truck

A catering truck and an MTA bus collided at an intersection south of downtown Wednesday morning, injuring at least 24 people, fire officials said.

The injured were given emergency treatment on tarps laid out on the intersection of Broadway and Adams Boulevard before 18 of them were taken to hospitals. Six were released after treatment at the scene.

Ron Myers, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said none of the injuries appeared to be serious.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority said the Line 55 bus was westbound on Adams about 9 a.m. when it was hit by the northbound truck. One of the vehicles apparently ran a red light, but it was not immediately clear which one, investigators said.

Eleven ambulances responded to the accident, and morning commuter traffic in the area a few blocks east of the USC campus was snarled for hours.

The victims transported by ambulance were taken to California Hospital Medical Center, County-USC Medical Center, Hollywood Community Hospital Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital and Midway Hospital, officials said.

The identities of the victims were not released, and it was not immediately known how many were from the truck or the bus.

Wednesday’s crash was the latest in a series of MTA bus crashes, including seven in seven weeks along the new 14-mile Orange Line busway in the San Fernando Valley.

Metro buses typically are involved in about 3.5 accidents every 100,000 miles, the MTA said.