5 Hospitalized In Lake Elsinore School Bus, Van Crash: CHP

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — Five people were hospitalized Friday following a school bus crash in Lake Elsinore, the CHP and fire officials report. The wreck involved the bus and a passenger van and was first reported around 7:30 a.m. in the area of Grand Avenue and Morro Way.

CHP Officer Mike Lassig says an 84-passenger school bus was on Grand Avenue when a Chevy passenger van was stopped at a stop sign on Morro Way.

"As that school bus was approaching Morro Way, the van, according to witnesses, pulled out in front of the school bus and a collision occurred," Lassig told Patch.

One adult and a child in the van were trapped in the wreckage and needed the assistance of firefighters to get out, Lassig said. Those two, along with two other children in the van, were all taken to the hospital, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately known

According to the CHP spokesman, the van driver and his three children - - a 2-year-old boy, a 5-year-old girl and a 10-year-old girl -- were not wearing safety belts.

The bus driver was also hospitalized, Lassig said.

There were 10 juveniles on the bus, and they were all checked out by paramedics at the scene. None of them were hospitalized, Lassig said.

The CHP is investigating the crash.