MANHATTAN, N.Y. (WPIX) — A Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus and a double-decker tour bus collided in Manhattan on Thursday evening, sending a number of passengers to the hospital.
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) said 18 people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Around 63 other people were being evaluated for possible injuries.
“I see this bus barreling toward us, smashes into the side of our bus. For a second, I thought I was in a movie, didn’t think it was real until I saw the glass, I saw the people screaming, I saw the blood,” MTA bus passenger Ishrak Jahan told WPIX. “I immediately went into ‘Is everyone alright, is everyone good?’ [Then I] called 911.”
Fern Parker recorded the rescue from her apartment window.
“They put the ladder up, the tour people couldn’t get down the steps, so they had to rescue them by taking them down the ladder,” Parker said.
The MTA told WPIX that the bus had 20 people on board, plus the bus operator, who is a 15-year veteran. Transit authority officials said the tour bus was speeding when it crashed into the MTA bus.
“[The tour bus] seems to have blown a red light and T-boned our bus. [It] was going so fast,” the MTA said. “The other operator has some explaining to do.”
Officials told WPIX the investigation is ongoing.