Bus crashes into crowded Massachusetts terminal, trapping bystander
FITCHBURG – A man was seriously hurt Thursday morning when a bus filled with passengers slammed into a terminal in Fitchburg.
"I was in disbelief on what had happened. It happened very quickly," said Ariana Paine, who was on the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority bus at the time of the crash.
Fitchburg bus crash
Paine said she got onto the bus just before 8 a.m. when it started rolling and slammed through the glass wall of a nearby terminal on Main Street.
"I realized that we were moving. And once we started moving, the glass all came into the bus. There was someone in front of the bus, he got dragged by the bus," Paine said.
Paine said it appeared the driver had no control when the bus slammed into the terminal in the downtown area of Fitchburg.
"It happened so quickly that I didn't see it. I blinked and it just happened," said one witness.
A 65-year-old man was sitting on a bench when he became pinned underneath the bus. Several witnesses tried unsuccessfully to lift the bus off the man.
"Our crews were able to lift the bus up using air bags and electronic Jaws of Life," said Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Roy. "We were able to pull him out, medics went to work on him and life flighted him UMass [Memorial Medical Center]."
Bus crash investigation
One man said the victim had glass shards in his head and had several cuts. The victim was alert and talking to police officers when he was taken away for treatment.
Investigators are working to try to determine what happened in the moments before the crash. Paine said the driver immediately got off the bus and tried to help the victim.
"I truly don't think that it was the bus driver at fault. Something must have happened. The bus driver was in disbelief as I was," Paine said. "It looked like he couldn't stop it first or something. Like he had no control over it at first or maybe he was shocked and didn't know what to do."
Fire officials said that with a crowded bus terminal, it's fortunate more people weren't hurt.
"It's just frustrating not to have anything to really help the guy and not be able to reach him," said witness Alden Clark.
"The accident is being investigated by state and local law enforcement. MART has no information regarding the cause of the accident and will fully assist law enforcement with access to all information necessary for them to investigate the accident," MART said in a statement. "Our concern right now is for the individual that was injured in the accident and for their full recovery."