Eight people were injured in an accident last Wednesday evening when a car slammed into a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and sent the bus hurtling into several parked cars and a building.
New York television station CBS 2 reports that a surveillance camera captured the moment the accident occurred. Jamie Balzano, one of the people injured said, “It happened so fast, I was just trying to hold on, you know, so I don’t fall.” The accident happened around 5:50 p.m., when a car hit the front of a B61 bus traveling down Dwight Street at Coffey Street in Brooklyn, according to the MTA. The bus struck several parked cars, jumped the curb and struck a nearby building, the MTA said. “It was a domino effect – all the way down. All the way down to the van,” a witness reported. Bob Seetin said he saw what caused the accident. “That black Camry was coming on Coffey Street, and it broke the stop sign. It went past the stop sign without stopping. And the bus is coming this way, and the two cars collided and sent the bus into the sidewalk,” Seetin said, according to CBS 2. The bus knocked down two trees before it smashed into the building that houses a manufacturing company, Linda Tool. Michael Di Marino, owner of Linda Tool, said, “We didn’t know if one of our machines malfunctioned, or we got hit with lightning.” He said it felt like “an earthquake.”
The bus driver, a 22-year veteran with the MTA, and the driver of the Camry were both rushed to the hospital. Three bus passengers were taken to Lutheran Medical Center, where they were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. A few other people were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, radio station 1010 WINS reported.
Late Wednesday night, crews were in the process of towing the bus away. Investigators with the Department of Buildings will determine whether the building the bus struck is structurally sound, according to CBS 2.
