Two NJ Transit buses collided Friday in New Jersey, killing the driver and injuring at least 18, eyewitnesses authorities said. “The light changed and the other bus T-boned the 13, knocking it into the air”, said witness Khalil Smith.
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At a news conference, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka he had heard unconfirmed reports that one of the buses had run a red light.
Christopher Trucillo, police chief of NJ Transit, expressed his condolences to the family of the decreased driver of the No. 59 bus, a longtime employee of the agency. He said seven of those injured were in critical condition.
“The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office crash investigators are in charge of this investigation and they have begun the process of the hard work of reconstructing exactly what happened to cause this event”, Trucillo said.
NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder says the crash occurred when a bus with no passengers struck another bus carrying approximately 20 passengers.
The buses collided on Raymond Boulevard near Broad Street shortly after 6 a.m. Friday.
Nine of the injured passengers remained hospitalized on Saturday. The buses involved in the accident are the No. 5612, driving from New York City to Orange, and No. 5784, heading from North Arlington to Newark Penn Station.
Emergency crews respond to the scene of a accident involving two commuter buses in Newark, N.J., on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016.
Rescue workers used ladders to get passengers out of the bus, carefully lifting stretchers thorough broken windows.
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Bosnjakovic said investigators have not told her friend what caused the crash that also killed Joseph Barthelus, 70, of Union, the driver of the bus that hit Garcia’s bus. “We are not positive about that, but that is what is being said”.
