ABC News(NEW YORK) — Three people are dead and 15 others are injured after two buses collided at one of the most densely packed intersections in Queens, New York, Monday morning, officials said.
The crash between a New York City MTA bus and a Dahlia charter bus happened in Flushing at just after 6:15 a.m. during the morning commute, officials said.
The accident sent the charter bus onto the sidewalk and it came to a stop in a restaurant, sparking a small fire, officials said.
The fire was quickly put out by firefighters, who treated the injured.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “It’s just shocking to see the scene. It’s hard to compare it to anything I’ve seen — the sheer destruction from the impact of this collision.”
Officials said the three people died were the driver of the private bus, a passenger on the MTA bus and a person on the street who was run over.
The MTA driver, a 10-year veteran, is in the hospital in noncritical condition and is being spoken to, officials said.
Joe Lhota, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said, “We want to make sure we understand exactly what happened and we prevent this from ever happening again.”
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