A Thursday night commute went wrong when a New York MTA articulated bus crashed through an overpass railing and plunged several feet down to the road below. At least nine people were injured and the bus dangled over the Cross Bronx Expressway for hours.
The FDNY’s Twitter account shows a frightening scene:
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
As of now, it’s not known what caused the crash. According to ABC 7 New York, the bus driver was trying to turn left off of University Avenue onto the ramp to the Washington bridge when the bus — a New Flyer XN60 — ran off of the overpass. The rear section of the articulated bus remained on the overpass while the front section slammed into the road below. The bus appeared to have remained at least partially connected at the articulation point.
The FDNY states that the bus dropped 15.24 m onto the road surface below. However, I don’t think that maths works out. The XN60’s total length is 18.29 m and there is more than ten feet of bus remaining on the overpass.
The injured were rescued and taken to the hospital, all are expected to survive. From the FDNY Twitter:
FDNY Acting Battalion Chief Steven Moore and Deputy Chief Paul Hopper discusses operations on scene of a tandem bus accident this morning in the Bronx. Read more: https://t.co/sCfNYIOtrs pic.twitter.com/8eMb4dKAZO
— FDNY (@FDNY) January 15, 2021
MTA Chief Safety and Security Officer Patrick Warren released the following statement, via ABC 7 New York:
The MTA’s goal is to have the safest transportation system in the nation, and when an incident like this occurs we take it very seriously. We are conducting a full investigation and will implement lessons learned in order to prevent it from happening again. We are certain this was a terrifying incident for those customers on the bus. Our hearts go out to them with hope that they can recover quickly.
Police shut down the New Jersey inbound lanes of the Cross Bronx Expressway after the crash.
The bus-powered by compressed natural gas — was secured, then with the help of several cranes, it was pulled back from the overpass. It has been towed to an MTA yard where its data recorder, cameras and passenger counter will be used to determine the cause of the crash.