Last Updated on December 13, 2019 by CCAR Staff
Two adults and four children were injured, one seriously, after a school bus and van carrying children collided Friday morning, Dec. 13, in Lake Elsinore, authorities said.
The crash happened just before 7:30 a.m. in the 1400 block of Morro Way, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The school bus, carrying a driver and 10 children, was traveling southbound on Grand Avenue, said Mike Lassig, an officer and spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
At the same time, a Chevy Express passenger van carrying the driver and three children was on Morro Way traveling east.
The driver of the van approached a stop sign and, for unknown reasons, entered the intersection as the bus was beginning to enter the intersection after it had come to a stop, Lassig said. The front of the bus hit the front of the driver’s side of the van, causing major damage to both vehicles.
The three children in the Chevy van were not properly restrained and one of them, a 5-year-old girl, suffered major injuries, Lassig said. A 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy suffered minor injuries and all three were taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center.
The driver and the 5-year-old girl became trapped in the vehicle and were freed by firefighters, Lassig said.
The bus driver and a 9-year-old girl complained of pain, Lassig said. The other seven students on the bus who were not injured in the crash were released to the school district, Cal Fire-Riverside said.
Officers are investigating if the children in the van were restrained properly, Lassig said.
The California Highway Patrol is also investigating what led to the crash.
Cal Fire-Riverside initially reported that eight people were hospitalized then the California Highway Patrol provided an updated number.
