Van slams into LA restaurant, injures 9

Authorities in Los Angeles said nine people were injured when a van plowed into a crowd of people dining at a restaurant patio late Sunday afternoon.

Eight people were hospitalized in the crash in the city’s mid-Wilshire neighborhood, the Los Angeles Times reported. One of the victims, a 44-year-old man, was reported in critical condition.

The neighborhood is west of downtown L.A. and south of Hollywood. KTLA-TV reported that the victims were dining at The Fish Spot, an area sit-down restaurant, shortly before 4 p.m. PT, when the van’s driver allegedly swerved to avoid another vehicle and jumped a curb, sending it through the patio fence in front of the restaurant, according to witnesses.

The Times reported that after one vehicle drove through a red light, two vehicles collided in the intersection and the impact sent one of them into the crowd.

One witness told the Associated Press that several victims were pinned beneath the van and that one man had severe head injuries. He said witnesses held the van's driver until authorities arrived.

Neither driver was injured, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Dwayne Wilson told the Times.

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