Six hurt in head-on MBTA bus crash
Transit police are investigating a head-on collision involving an MBTA bus in Saugus yesterday afternoon that sent six people to the hospital.
Officers responded to the area of Essex and Felton streets at about 3:50 p.m. for a crash involving an MBTA bus and a vehicle, transit police said.
Preliminary information suggests the Route 429 MBTA bus was in the vicinity of 190 Essex St. traveling toward Lynn when it was struck head-on by a Ford SUV being operated by a 37-year-old female, police said.
The Ford was originally traveling in the opposite lane when it veered into the bus’s lane, transit police said, possibly after it struck a third parked vehicle.
Transit police said four passengers, the bus operator and the SUV driver were transported to local area hospitals with serious injuries as a result of the crash.
Leonard Fauci, who lives behind Essex Street in Saugus where the crash occurred, said he ran outside when he heard a loud, explosion-like sound.
“I checked to see if children were on the bus, there wasn’t any,” Fauci said. “(The SUV driver) wasn’t moving, it looked like she was going the same way as the bus, which hit the tree. It was terrible.”
Besides being shaken up, Fauci said the bus driver looked OK and so did the passengers.
“I saw a few people who looked dumbfounded and shocked,” Fauci said. “They must have been rocked by the impact. The bus hit the tree pretty good, it grazed it and tore off the bark.”
The bus, Fauci said, had both of its front windows blown out from the impact, but he was most concerned for the SUV driver.
“Her arm was hanging out of the window and her head was on the dashboard. The lady behind her said, ‘Nobody touch her,’ which is probably a good idea. She was unconscious,” Fauci said. “The speed limit on this street is 30 mph. I don’t know how fast they were going, but my God I can’t imagine. It’s sad.”