One person is dead, two children hurt in school bus collision

The driver of an SUV died and three people in a school bus suffered minor injuries Thursday morning when the vehicles collided near Lake Elsinore, authorities said.

The crash was reported at 6:32 a.m. on Riverside Street near Highway 74. The driver of the 2009 Chevrolet HHR had to be cut out of the SUV, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department said. The 57-year-old Lake Elsinore man, whose name was not revealed, died at Inland Valley Medical Center, the California Highway Patrol said.

Two students, an 8-yearold boy and a 5-year-old girl, according to the CHP, were hospitalized with minor injuries and were later released, said Melissa Valdez, a spokeswoman for the school district. The bus driver was not injured, Valdez said. He is a 69-yearold Wildomar resident, the CHP said.

A 20-year-old passenger on the bus also had minor injuries, the CHP said.

The bus was making a left turn from northbound Riverside Street onto westbound Highway 74 when it was broadsided by the eastbound SUV, the CHP said. The intersection is controlled by stoplights and investigators are trying to determine which vehicle ran a red light, said Officer Mike Lassig, a CHP spokesman.