Box Truck Collides With School Bus, Slams Into Fruit Market In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Several people were injured Friday when an out-of-control box truck slammed into a school bus before crashing into a fruit market in Queens.
The Penske rental truck slammed into New Giant Farm that was filled with shoppers on the corner of Hillside Avenue and Hollis Court Boulevard just before noon.
"It was coming off the Clearview [Expressway], he was trying to beat the light," a witness, named Sean, told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond. "And then he smacked the Honda Accord, smacked the yellow school bus."
Several Injuries Reported In Crash Involving Truck, School Bus In Queens
"We heard this loud screeching, like brakes, and then 'Bang, bang,'" said witness Billie Rochester who was shopping in an auto parts store next to the market. "Everybody just kind of started freaking out because there was blood everywhere."
Clerk Kyung Lim went running for cover.
"Yeah, I'm scared," he told CBS2's Matt Kozar.
He escaped unhurt but a woman standing near the fruit stand was pinned under the truck.
The woman shopping in the store when she was pinned between the truck and a fruit case; the truck driver was also pinned inside the vehicle, fire officials said.
GALLERY: Queens Crash Involving Truck, School Bus
The brave but shaken kids from a the bus operated by Total Transportation were loaded onto an oxygen-enhanced mobile treatment center and transported to Cohen Children's Hospital, joining several of their classmates who arrived on stretchers, as a precaution, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported.
There were 24 children under the age of six on the bus, Diamond reported. One was taken to the hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.
Several Injuries Reported In Crash Involving Truck, School Bus In Queens
"There was a woman underneath the truck, she was responsive, she wasn't moving much, but she was moving her hands," Rochester said. "There were two older women that were kind of pinned between the structure and they couldn't get out. They were screaming too."
"Utilizing our tools, we were able to extricate her and hand her off," Fire Officials said.
Officials describe the woman in her mid 40s.
The truck, bus and car narrowly missed a man operating a food cart, who dodged away just in time, McLogan reported.
No summonses or arrests have been issued, McLogan reported.
Before the crash witnesses said they heard honking, acceleration, shouting, and brakes squealing.
The crash happened where the Grand Central Parkway and Clearview Expressway off ramps merge, and is a known traffic trouble spot, McLogan reported.
Crews will work through the night to board of the market. The crash remains under investigation.
