At least four people were killed 12 more critically injured when a charter bus and an amphibious “duck boat” collided on Seattle’s Aurora bridge, fire officials say.
The fire department said it had evaluated about 50 people after the crash, which the city’s department of transportation called a “major collision”.
Photos from the scene showed the side of the charter bus was ripped open from the force of the collision, which happened just after 11am PT. The four people killed, as well as the people with the most significant injuries, were aboard the charter bus, the Seattle fire department said.
Two other small passenger vehicles were involved in the crash.
“We’ve had a terrible tragedy,” Seattle’s mayor, Ed Murray, said at a press conference. “There’s been a terrible loss of life. The thoughts of this city go out to everyone.”
A reporter with Kiro 7 TV station said the charter bus was full of international students from China. The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, was in Seattle on Thursday ahead of a trip to the US east coast.
Both directions of Route 99 – a busy highway connecting the center of the city to the northern sections – were closed, officials said. Murray warned of “significant transportation problems” in the city for the rest of the afternoon and evening, and he told reporters that drawbridges around the city would remain closed to boat traffic, allowing cars to make fuller use of them for afternoon commutes.
Duck boats are amphibious tour vehicles that travel between land and water. The Ride the Ducks company of Seattle uses former landing vehicles from the second world war. The tours are known for exuberant drivers and guides who play loud music and quack through megaphones as they lead tourists around the city.
UPDATE: Major collision on the SR 99 Aurora Bridge. All lanes blocked. Avoid the area and use alternate routes. pic.twitter.com/qS1NKPo3Pt
— seattledot (@seattledot) September 24, 2015
One witness to the crash, Jesse Christenson, told the Seattle Times that the scene was “pretty gruesome”.
“The duck boat was 100 yards in front of me, the first car in front of me. What I saw was the duck boat had its blinker on, trying to get in the left lane. Then all of a sudden the duck boat turned sharper into the left. I initially thought it was a blow out. The duck boat then hit another car with a roof rack then went head on into into the oncoming tour bus,” he said.
John Mundell told the Associated Press he was at the south end of Aurora Avenue bridge when he heard the crash.
“We could hear the screech and twisted metal,” he said. “It was surreal.”
Mundell said he saw what appeared to be a few dozen people on the ground. “I wanted to try to help. I felt helpless.”
Stangl said emergency crews were quick to arrive at the scene and encountered several injuries.
“When [firefighters] arrived a lot of people were running at them, obviously saying people needed help,” she told the AP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
