Around 17 people were injured when a Maryland Transit Administration bus collided with two other vehicles and then an apartment building near downtown Baltimore on Saturday morning, Baltimore fire officials said.
The collision sent around 16 people to area hospitals, according to Baltimore City Fire Department officials who were at the scene around 12:40 p.m. One person refused treatment.
The conditions of those who were hospitalized were unknown Saturday afternoon, fire, police and transit authorities said. A police news release said that “two of the injuries are believed to be possibly life-threatening,” but fire officials on the scene could not confirm their condition.
A University of Maryland Medical System spokesman said that five people were transported to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and that seven others were taken to emergency departments at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s midtown and downtown campuses.
Around 10:15 a.m., a CityLink Blue bus collided with a Lexus at the intersection of North Paca and West Mulberry streets before careening into a Nissan sports utility vehicle and driving through the corner of The 501 apartments in the 500 block of West Franklin Street, authorities said.
Fire officials at the crash scene early Saturday afternoon said they were beginning to let people to reenter the apartments after city inspectors advised that the building was safe. No pedestrians or people in the apartment building were injured, according to law enforcement.
Baltimore and MTA police, the city fire department, medics and city building inspectors were still at the crash scene Saturday afternoon.
As city and transit officials coordinated, a tow truck hoisted a gray Nissan SUV with deployed passenger and driver airbags and hauled it away from the city bus. Bystanders watched as public safety officials began inching the bus in reverse out of The 501 building.
MTA police are investigating what caused the crash, the transit agency said Saturday afternoon. Baltimore City Police are also investigating the circumstances leading to the collision.
This story may be updated.
