A Baltimore city bus collided into two cars as well as a building on Saturday morning, leaving at least 17 people injured as well as a chaotic scene.
The Maryland Transportation Authority bus at the center of the case struck a Lexus car about 10.20am, then crashed into a Nissan and then a building in the 500 block of West Franklin Street in Baltimore’s Seton Hill neighborhood west of downtown.
Emergency responders reported at least 17 injuries, and at least two were believed to be serious. The Baltimore Sun reported that officials made people leave the first floor of the struck building before determining it was not as damaged as they initially feared.
The assistant Baltimore fire department chief, Kevin Cartwright, told the Sun: “There were bystander, spectator reports that there were vehicles speeding through [here] and the MTA bus, in an effort to avoid being a part of that, collided into this building.”
He said first responders declared the scene a top-level “mass casualty incident” because of the number of people who were injured, but it was not believed that any of their lives were in danger.
A witness to the crash, Renee Bunch, told the Baltimore Sun that the bus crashed into the building to avoid hitting more cars.
“This bus driver here saved a lot of lives,” Bunch said. “We were at the light, and he went into the building. If he wouldn’t have went into the building, he would have smashed into all of us. We were the third car down.”
According to Bunch, the Lexus involved in the wreck was speeding and ran a red light when it struck a pole. The bus swerved to try to avoid the Lexus and then swerved again, hitting a Nissan and then the building.
