What to Know
- An MTA bus crashed into an apartment building in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn Friday morning
- No passengers were on board the bus when the accident occurred, according to FDNY officials
- The incident took place on St. Marks and Ralph Avenue; It remains unclear what caused the driver to crash into the building
An MTA bus crashed into an apartment building in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn Friday morning.
No passengers were on board the bus when the accident occurred around 10:12 a.m., according to FDNY officials.
The incident took place on St. Marks and Ralph Avenue.
Although FDNY sources first said that one minor injury was reported, FDNY Chief Patrick Sheridan elaborated that six individuals sustained minor injuries.
According to Amanda Kwan, spokeswoman for NYC Transit, the bus operator was taken to Kings County Hospital for trauma.
The B45 line bus was making a right turn when it struck the building, Kwan said.
According to Sheridan, when the bus turned, it made contact with a mailbox and a dump truck before hitting the building. The initial concern from officials on the scene was that a tenant may have been trapped by the bus, but the apartment involved in the direct impact was vacant at the time.
"Anybody could have been standing at the bus stop. Could have been in their living room," area resident Cheyenne Watts said.
Local
A resident of the apartment building said that he was lucky that his children were at school when the impact occurred.
"I was home at the time I was in the bedroom I hear this really loud explosion type sound,” JB Randolph said, adding "luckily my kids are at school so thank God for that one."
Randolph said that his neighbors were home and close to the impact — the bus missing one of them by mere inches.
According to engineers from the Department of Buildings, the building is not structurally compromised although the DOB did issue vacate orders for the two apartments nearest to the site of the crash.
The DOB says that any displaced resident will be offered assistance through the American Red Cross.
Images from the scene revealed a section of the building's wall reduced to a pile of bricks due to the impact.
Friday afternoon investigators called for a heavy duty tow truck, but MTA workers were able to back out the bus — covered in dust, an image that prompted some in the area to realize the accident could have been far worse.
The investigation is ongoing.
