At least 3 hurt after semi-truck carrying vehicles crashes into apartment building in Panorama City

PANORAMA CITY, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A semi-truck carrying vehicles slammed into an apartment building in Panorama City on Tuesday, leaving at least three people hurt and displacing over a dozen residents.

AIR7 flew over the scene, where the truck was seen smashed into the front of the building, causing heavy damage. The car hauler was carrying eight vehicles at the time of the crash.

It happened around 2:30 p.m. in the 8900 block of Van Nuys Boulevard near Osborne Street. It appeared the truck veered off the roadway, over the curb and into the front facade of an apartment building.

Cars parked outside of the building were also damaged. It appeared they slammed into each other as a result of the crash.

Eyewitness News watched as crews pulled the truck out of the front of the building shortly after 5 p.m.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said the driver of the semi-truck was taken to the hospital.

In a later update, LAFD said a second person was also taken to the hospital, and they both sustained non-life-threatening injuries. A third person was treated by paramedics at the scene but declined transport.

The Red Cross is assisting 13 residents who were displaced from their apartments as a result of the crash, according to LAFD. Video from inside an apartment shows the destruction from the crash.

SoCalGas said a gas line was damaged in the crash.

There were people on the sidewalk at the time who were able to get out of the way, according to witnesses.

"There were four cars in front of him. I just saw them out of nowhere stop. I heard him try to stop, and he tried to avoid them, and he hit right there," one witness said.

"I saw like, I don't know if I heard the sound before it, like... everything trembled around me. But I just saw it out the window... And then like, I see it, and I'm like, 'What's happening?' And then the whole thing shakes," another witness said.

The investigation is ongoing as the L.A. Department of Building and Safety examines the apartment building's structural integrity. It's unknown what caused the crash.