Eight people were injured after a city bus collided and hung from a New York viaduct on Thursday night.
The incident occurred around 11 pm, after the driver was “unable to navigate the road” on the Cross Bronx expressway on University Avenue, a New York Police Department spokesman told NBC New York.
Photos and video of the accident were shared on social networks, showing the division of the BX-35 bus – with the front hanging over the expressway barrier and balancing on the road below.
One person was seriously injured in the accident, the New York Fire Department said in an e-mailed statement. Three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries and four others suffered minor injuries, they added.
The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, the police told WNBC. No other vehicles or pedestrians were involved.
“The bus fell about 15 meters on the access road,” said fire chief Paul Hopper, who oversaw emergency medical treatment for passengers, on Instagram.
“Patients suffered injuries consistent with a fall from such a height.”
Emergency services continued to work in the morning to ensure that “all fuel and other hazardous materials in the vehicle” were stored before the bus could be lowered on the road, said acting battalion chief Steven Moore.
It was too early to speculate on the cause of the accident, said Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Tim Minton. He added that the bus route usually requires the driver to turn left on the expressway, but the route has been lost.
MTA’s director of safety and security, Patrick Warren, said the official is “conducting a thorough investigation and will implement the lessons learned to prevent this from happening again.”
“We are certain it was a terrible incident for the bus customers. Our hearts are with them, with the hope that they can recover quickly,” added Warren.
