10 Disabled Children Among 14 Hurt in School Bus Crash

Fourteen people suffered minor injuries Wednesday morning when a school bus carrying disabled and mentally handicapped children crashed into a parked Pacific Bell utility truck in East Los Angeles, officials said.

The accident occurred about 8:15 a.m. as the bus was traveling north on Ford Boulevard near 1st Street, carrying students to nearby Perez Special Education Center.

The impact of the crash pushed the truck into a second Pacific Bell truck occupied by two workers, authorities said.

The employees were hospitalized with minor head injuries, and 12 people in the bus, including the 10 students, ages 5 to 11, also were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries.

The cause of the accident is under investigation by the California Highway Patrol, Sgt. Paul Golonski said.

“For some reason, the bus veered to the right and rear-ended the first truck, pushing it into the second (truck).”

The bus was driven by an employee of the Cardinal Bus Co., which is under contract to transport students. A spokesman for the company would not comment on the accident.

County Fire Inspector Devin Trone said the children escaped major injury because they wore seat belts or were sitting in wheelchairs secured for safety. Because of their special needs, most of the 500 students at Perez are transported to school by bus.

“Normally, the injuries would have been more significant, but fortunately the children were all secured with safety belts,” Trone said.

News of the accident caused concern among parents. “This is the first time anything like this has ever happened,” said Cecilia Guzman, assistant principal.