New York City Bus Left Dangling From Overpass After Crash, Injuring 8

An “accordion” bus in New York City was left hanging from an overpass near the George Washington Bridge late Thursday after the vehicle crashed. Authorities said that the eight people on board were brought to area hospitals with injuries and the bus was secured and to be towed away. Police said the Metropolitan Transit Authority bus “failed to navigate” a turn on the Cross Bronx Expressway or suffered brake failure. No other vehicles were involved.

Video of the scene surfaced on social media from authorities and onlookers alike. It showed the rear portion of the bus sitting on the highway with the front portion hanging from the overpass. It appears as if the front portion fell all the way down to the pavement below. The New York City Fire Department said one of the nine injuries was serious, two were “non-life-threatening” and the other six were minor. The Associated Press reports that the person seriously injured was the driver. MTA Bus Company President Craig Cipriano hailed the bus operator as “very helpful, very heroic” and “able to help customers get off the bus to safety,” as reported by CBS New York.

“The bus fell approximately 50 feet onto the access road,” Deputy Fire Chief Paul Hopper, who oversaw emergency medical treatment for those onboard, said on Instagram. “The patients suffered injuries consistent with a fall from such a great height.”

Authorities said emergency services would continue to work into the morning hours to ensure that fuel and other hazardous materials would be removed from the vehicle before it could be lowered onto the road and towed away. The cause of the accident, which occurred around 11 p.m., was under investigation. Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesperson Tim Minton said that the bus’s route usually requires the driver to take a left onto the expressway, but it was missed.

The MTA’s Chief Safety and Security Officer Patrick Warren said the agency was “conducting a full investigation and will implement lessons learned in order to prevent it from happening again.” He added, “We are certain this was a terrifying incident for those customers on the bus. Our hearts go out to them with the hope that they can recover quickly.”