Girl, nine, killed as car hits school bus and ploughs into children

A police officer stands at the scene of a crash involving a school bus in Desert Hot Springs, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. A child was killed when a car struck the school bus in Southern California and then plowed into a group of walking children. (Taya Gray/The Desert Sun via AP)

Investigators in southern California are investigating a fatal crash in which a car rear-ended a school bus and then ploughed into a group of walking children, killing a nine-year-old girl and injuring two other youngsters.

A white Cadillac struck the bus on Thursday afternoon in the Riverside County town of Desert Hot Springs, east of Los Angeles and north of Palm Springs.