Bus hits and injures 3 students on Mount Wachusett campus in Gardner
GARDNER - Three students at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner were injured when they were struck by a bus from the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority that was dropping off students just before 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.
"You just see the bodies fly."
"It was like a horror movie, honestly," said passenger Sam Nieves. He photographed the shattered windshield from inside the bus after he says it came around a sharp corner. "In that tight corner, it had cut the corner and onto the sidewalk, speed - seemed to be going faster. Each of the students was hit one at a time."
Nieves's friend and fellow passenger Sabrina Alonso also witnessed the accident. "We were sitting in the back, and you just see the bodies fly," said Alonso.
Witnesses say bus seemed out of control
Nieves and Alonso take the bus each morning with the same driver, but on this trip, they said, it seemed like control was lost.
"I think it was something technical. I don't think he was, like, going fast on purpose. I think maybe he tried to brake, and the bus accelerated. I don't know," said Alonso.
The students were walking on a grassy area, heading to class, when the bus jumped the curb, struck them, and hit a light post. The passengers say the driver cut the wheel as hard as he could to avoid further catastrophe.
"Until he was able to turn that corner, I think we would have kept going straight, maybe hitting more people or injuring ourselves," said Nieves.
Accidents on MART buses
It was a little more than a week ago that a MART bus plowed into a bus terminal in downtown Fitchburg seriously injuring a man inside.
Student Emma Hernandez said she was involved in another accident and is concerned about MART's track record. "They kind of rammed into a car, the accident that I was in. The track record - I wouldn't say is horrible because accidents happen every day - but it's definitely not great," said Hernandez.
The college sent out an email alert and offered counseling services. While the students were said to be alert and not seriously injured, it's left those involved very shaken.
"It's very traumatizing, I commute all the time, and now, I'm afraid to take the bus. I just hope that those students are OK," said Alonso.
"I think if it is a technical issue, busses should be recalled because it could only happen again and hurt more people," said Nieves.
MART is investigating the accident, and the driver is on leave. The students involved in the accident were not seriously hurt.