Emergency crews pulled an MTA bus back from an overpass in the Bronx on Friday after it careened off the roadway Thursday night.
Eight people were injured during the incident that occurred just after 11 p.m. Thursday, ABC 7 reported.
“The 55-year-old driver was attempting to turn left off University Avenue onto a ramp to the Washington Bridge when the Bx35 bus suddenly went off the road,” the outlet said, adding that it fell about 50 feet onto an access road:
Half of the articulated bus was left hanging off University Avenue, feet from the Cross Bronx Expressway below. The driver went through the bus to check on the seven passengers, who were all subsequently rescued and taken to the hospital. All are expected to survive, although one of the passengers was more seriously injured than the others.
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) shared photos and video of the tandem bus dangling from the overpass in a series of social media posts:
In an Instagram post, FDNY Deputy Chief Paul Hopper later confirmed that eight people were injured during the incident.
“We assessed and treated a total of eight patients from this accident. The bus fell approximately 50 feet onto the access road. The patients suffered injuries consistent with a fall from such a great height,” he said:
Emergency responders used cranes to lift the bus off the expressway and after several hours, it was pulled back from the overpass and towed to an MTA yard to undergo investigation.
“The bus contains a black box that will help the MTA determine what happened, as well as cameras and passenger counters that collect information,” the ABC report said.
In a statement, MTA Safety and Security Officer Patrick Warren noted that the agency’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,” he concluded.
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