2 buses, SUV, cab and van involved in Center City crash
The streets around City Hall turned into a demolition derby Thursday when a school bus, a SEPTA bus, a taxi cab, an SUV and a parked SEPTA van were involved in crashes that left a bank branch's window shattered.
The streets around City Hall turned into a demolition derby Thursday when a school bus, a SEPTA bus, a taxi cab, an SUV and a parked SEPTA van were involved in crashes that left a bank branch's window shattered.
Police estimated that about 14 people suffered injuries in the crashes, which occurred around noon near 15th Street and JFK Boulevard.
Officials said no students were on the school bus, but SEPTA said 13 passengers, including two children, on the Route 17 bus were taken to a nearby hospital to be checked out.
"Nothing life-threatening, no fatalities," said Philadelphia police Capt. Frank Palumbo.
Palumbo said investigators from the police Accident Investigation Division will be determining what happened.
One woman who said she witnessed the crash said the cab, from the 215 Get A Cab company, hit the SEPTA bus on the 1400 block of JFK Boulevard, in front of the Municipal Services Building, then appeared to accelerate and rammed into the Philadelphia School District bus at 15th and JFK.
The SEPTA bus pulled over after the initial crash, but the cab driver "wound up just hitting the gas, he should have just hit the brakes, but he hit the gas," said Roblette Baker, 37, of Northeast Philadelphia.
The cab then hit the school bus, which hit a black Lincoln SUV, Baker said. The school bus ended up on the sidewalk, and the SUV crashed into the front of the TD Bank branch.
The taxi also struck an empty SEPTA Transit Police van that was parked in front of the bank on the 1500 block of JFK Boulevard, said SEPTA spokeswoman Heather Redfern.
The male cab driver was believed to be among those hospitalized, and it wasn't known if the Lincoln driver was hurt.
No one in the bank was injured. It was closed after the crash.
Anthony Ouellette, 49, was inside the branch to use the ATM just before the SUV crashed into its glass facade.
The South Philadelphia resident was already outside and didn't see the crash, but heard it.
"It sounded like an explosion," he said.
A dispatcher with the 215 Get A Cab company said Thursday afternoon that no one was available to comment.
Traffic was snarled for several hours in the area with police directing vehicles around parts of JFK Boulevard that were closed.
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