An accordion bus was left hanging halfway off of an overpass in New York City Thursday night after a serious brake failure.
The accident happened on January 14th just after 11 p.m. near The Bronx neighborhood in New York City.
According to CBS News, the bus “failed to navigate” a turn near an interchange of the Cross Bronx and Major Deegan expressways, and experienced brake failure, sending the front half of the articulated bus plunging off the overpass. The accident left the back half of the bus perched on the bridge while the front half dangled vertically, the nose of the bus partially crushed into the concrete below.
“The bus fell approximately 50 feet onto the access road. The patients suffered injuries consistent with a fall from such a great height,” Deputy Fire Chief Paul Hopper said in a social media post.
Nine people, including the bus driver, were injured in the crash – one injury was described as ‘serious,’ two as ‘non-life threatening,’ and the remaining six as ‘minor.’
“Preliminary indications are that the bus operator was very helpful, very heroic, was able to help customers get off the bus to safety,” MTA Bus Company President Craig Cipriano said of the incident.
FDNY units are on scene of a motor vehicle accident at University Ave and the Cross Bronx Expressway in the Bronx where a tandem bus has crashed through the barriers and is hanging off the overpass onto the roadway below. There are nine civilian injuries reported at this time. pic.twitter.com/00YQ897hhs
— FDNY (@FDNY) January 15, 2021
Emergency crews had to empty the dangling bus of fuel before removing it from the overpass.
“Currently we are making sure all the fuel and other hazardous materials within the vehicle is secured until the bus can be pulled onto the roadway,” FDNY Acting Battalion Chief Steven Moore said to CNN News.
As of 11 a.m. on Friday, January 15th, the bus was still hanging off of the overpass, Newsday reported.
Video from University Ave and the Cross Bronx Expressway where FDNY members continue to operate on scene for a tandem bus that crashed through a barrier onto a lower roadway. pic.twitter.com/Q0Y0vW7WmT
— FDNY (@FDNY) January 15, 2021