Bus overturns, injures 16 in Port Richmond
Sixteen people were sent to hospitals, including one in critical condition, after a bus carrying temporary workers careened down an I-95 off-ramp in Port Richmond and overturned Monday afternoon, authorities said.
Sixteen people were sent to hospitals, including one in critical condition, after a bus carrying temporary workers careened down an I-95 off-ramp in Port Richmond and overturned Monday afternoon, authorities said.
The driver told police the brakes had failed on the bus carrying 22 people, including the driver, as it sped down an exit ramp from I-95 to a T-intersection with East Westmoreland Street at 2:36 p.m., said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
"The driver yelled he had no brakes," said Brett Cusatis, 26, who was on the bus when it crashed.
The bus is owned by Del Val Staffing, L.L.C., a company that provides temp workers, Vanore said. In this case, it was transporting workers to Bellmawr, N.J.
A person who answered the phone at Del Val Staffing, located on Torresdale Avenue in the city's Tacony section, said the company had no comment. The company describes itself on its website as a "premier workforce management solution provider."
Del Val Staffing had a lawyer at the scene of the accident, Vanore said.
Cusatis, of West Philadelphia, was among the laborers on the bus returning to Kensington after a day of working at J&J Snack Foods.
The bus had always turned left on the way to dropping off the workers at the intersection of Kensington and Allegheny Avenues, Cusatis said.
"I saw he was making a right instead of a left at a really high speed," Cusatis said.
The blue bus with yellow stripes fishtailed into a telephone. The impact sheered off the back of the former school bus behind the rear axle. The bus appeared to be several decades old.
Cusatis, who was riding near the back, was thrown from the now-gaping hole in the rear of the vehicle and landed on the pavement. He declined medical treatment, as did five other workers.
"I feel pretty lucky," he said.
A man sitting a few rows behind him also was ejected from the bus and Cusatis said his "head was split open."
Vanore said one passenger was in critical condition at Hahnemann University Hospital. Fifteen other passengers were taken to other area hospitals.
At least 11 medic units responded to the scene, said Executive Fire Chief Daniel Williams.
The six workers who were not taken to hospitals were questioned by police and then driven away in a private van.
A representative from J&J Snack Foods could not be reached for comment.
Contact staff writer Robert Moran at 215-854-5983 or bmoran@phillynews.com.
