Five Injured After MTA Bus Crashes Into Washington Heights Pizzeria

An out-of-service northbound M5 MTA bus crashed into a pizza parlor in Washington Heights this morning, injuring at least five people, including the bus driver. The accident occurred around 7:45 a.m. at Broadway and 154th Street; the photo you see above was taken by the NY Scanner Twitter account after the FDNY arrived on the scene.

You might also notice a very battered-looking minivan in front of the bus. ABC News reports that witnesses saw the minivan try to cut the bus off, leading to the crash. Never try to cut off a bus, guys.

Two pedestrians, two people inside the van, and the driver of the bus were reportedly injured; two people have been taken to St. Luke’s Hospital and two to Harlem hospital.

Mark Levin, the City Council Member for the area, tweeted several photos from the scene:

Fdny working to extract SUV driver. pic.twitter.com/Ac6TwVig25

— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) April 4, 2014

All injured removed from scene. Operation winding down. pic.twitter.com/j5GYUw3PGZ

— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) April 4, 2014

He reports, too, that the employees of the pizzeria were injured but alive:

Store hit was a grill/pizzeria. Employees were just walking in, no patrons. Employees injured but all survived according to owner.

— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) April 4, 2014

There is, however, still a bus in that building. Removing it without collapsing the entire storefront will be quite difficult.

Seriously, don’t try to cut in front of a bus.

Oops. RT @JulieShapiro: Whoah RT @seenigel: Crazy bus and minivan accident on 155 & broadway. http://t.co/aop0py0ajy pic.twitter.com/Q79yKLI6uf

— Matt Haze (@MattHaze) April 4, 2014