A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate transporting bus was involved in a traffic collision in Valencia on Monday, according to first responders.
The collision was first reported on the northbound side of Interstate 5 near Magic Mountain Parkway at 12:24 p.m.
Officer Josh Greengard of the California Highway Patrol Newhall Office confirmed that local officers were responding to the scene.
“The initial call was a traffic collision with a bus involved,” said Giovanni Sanchez, a spokesman for L.A. County Fire. “Three patients were transported to a local area hospital.”
“It was a Transit Services Bureau bus involved in a collision on the 5 Freeway, just north of Magic Mountain Parkway,” said Deputy Natalie Arriaga, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. “Inmates were on the bus.”
The incident involved an inmate transport bus colliding with a small Toyota, but it remained unclear as of Monday at 1 p.m. how many passengers were on the bus at the time of the collision. First responders’ dispatch radio traffic indicated there were 18 people on the bus, but that could not be officially confirmed.
It appeared that the injuries sustained were to those passengers in the Toyota Prius as Greengard confirmed that the inmates were headed to Pitchess Detention Center to be further evaluated for any injuries.
The collision resulted in the closure of the far-left lane on Interstate 5 and traffic was heavily delayed as far back as the Newhall Pass on the northbound side.
No additional information on the collisions was available as of 1:20 p.m., according to Arriaga. Officials from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Information Bureau deferred comment back to the SCV Sheriff’s Station.
