'I Still See The Bus Going Down The Street," said Survivor Struck By School Bus
BALTIMORE (WJZ/AP) —The man whose car was struck by a school bus that then collided with a commuter bus in a deadly Baltimore wreck says he saw nothing but headlights before he was hit from behind.
Shawn Braxton of Columbia, Maryland, says he was driving to work Tuesday morning when his silver Ford Mustang was hit. The collision crushed the rear of the car and forced its nose into the pavement
"I just look up and I still see the bus going down the street and at that point I just had to close my eyes and try to get myself together," Braxton said. "And then people came into the car and started helping me out."
RELATED: 6 Dead, 10 Hospitalized After MTA Bus, School Bus Collide In SW Baltimore
Braxton, who said he recently retired as a Washington, D.C., police officer, told The Associated Press that bystanders and fellow motorists helped him out of his mangled car and kept him calm.
He says he's physically sore and struggling with having survived the accident while six others died.
Braxton declined to comment on what he saw when the buses collided, saying he wanted to talk with crash investigators first.
Baltimore City Department of Transportation worker Charles Graves said he didn't think twice before jumping in to help.
"People needed help and I decided to go over there and help them, I didn't think about it I just did it," he said. "It was gas leaking out of the doors once we got around there…people started coming out and I just seen blood all over a bunch of people."
"When I got out that's when I could hear the people yelling, 'Get me out of here,'" said Matthew Feldman, who was on the scene before first responders.
Feldmann too, jumped right into action.
"First we tried to go in through the door but every time we would peel the door open she was right there and it was pinching something and she started screaming real bad. So then we had to stop and me and the guy went through the front and he started grabbing the front windshield and we lifted it up off of her," Feldman said.
At nearby saint Jospeh Monastery Parish, Father Mike Murphy tells WJZ he too heard the commotion.
Murphy says he immediately opened up the parish to first responders.
Ten victims remain hospitalized due to injuries sustained in the crash.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
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