LOS ANGELES (AP) — An explosion in an underground electrical vault Tuesday near UCLA sent smoke and flames shooting up from the street, shattered windows and hurled a manhole cover into a commuter bus, slightly injuring the driver, authorities said.



Nobody was seriously hurt by the explosion that occurred about 9:30 a.m. in the Westwood Village shopping and dining district near the University of California, Los Angeles.

Witnesses said flames and black smoke shot from a manhole, and windows in a bank were shattered.

However, there was no fire, and damage to a nearby building was minor, Fire Department spokesman Greg Acevedo said.

The heavy metal manhole cover blew off and hit the back of a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus, MTA spokesman Rick Jager said.

The driver was treated for minor injuries, he said.Acevedo did not know whether the bus was carrying passengers at the time.

No electrical outages were reported. The cause of the blast was under investigation.

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