More than a dozen people are recovering after an MTA bus and an FDNY fire truck collided on Southern Boulevard in the Bronx, according to News 12 New York. The impact was severe enough that emergency crews carried away numerous casualties, and officials said the sequence of events is now the subject of an investigation.
Emergency medical services took five firefighters and 14 bus riders to area hospitals after the crash, the station reported. That figure of 19 people transported underscores how many were aboard the bus and on the responding apparatus when the two vehicles came together on the busy boulevard.
Surveillance video circulated by the broadcaster captured the moment of impact. The footage shows the bus travelling down Southern Boulevard before the fire truck slams into it, an abrupt collision that witnesses described as extremely loud.
One woman who spoke to News 12 said she normally rides that bus but had decided to walk on the day of the crash. She said the bus driver appeared to have only a little time to react before the two vehicles met, and that the impact was jarring for everyone nearby.
According to that witness account, the bus had a green light and was following its correct route when the collision happened. She said the fire truck came through with no sirens and no lights and went through the red, leaving the bus almost no chance to see it coming or stop in time.
The witness described the force of the crash as a huge impact, saying there was no warning noise before the vehicles struck. She recounted that the bus had no time to react before it was hit right at the intersection, a detail that has drawn attention as investigators piece together how the fire truck and bus ended up in the same space.
Officials have not released the conditions of those taken to the hospital, so the severity of the injuries remains unclear for now. Authorities said the circumstances of the collision are under investigation, and further details on the casualties and the cause were expected as that review continues.