|
 Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said 51 people were treated at area
hospitals, with 15 of those in critical condition, after the crash
on the busy Aurora Bridge, which crosses a canal linking Lake Union
with the Puget Sound's Shilshole Bay.
Local TV footage showed the side of the charter bus caved in with
glass and debris on the ground. The Ride the Ducks amphibious bus,
which had less damage, was missing a front wheel and its front end
was slightly crumpled.
Investigators are reviewing witness reports of "a possible
mechanical issue" on the duck vehicle, police said.
North Seattle College said approximately 45 students and employees
from its international programs were on the charter bus.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the families of these deceased
students, as well as to the students and employee who sustained
injuries," Warren Brown, the college's president, said in a
statement.
 Brown did not say what countries the four students were from. He
said several students were in critical condition and other students
and an employee were in serious condition.
A witness to the crash, Jesse Christenson, 32, saw the duck boat
with its turn signal on trying to get in the left lane, and then it
made a sharp move to the left.
"I initially thought it was a (tire) blow out. The duck boat then
hit another car with a roof rack then went head on into the oncoming
tour bus," Christenson told the Seattle Times newspaper. "The scene
was pretty gruesome ... There were people in shock."
[to top of second column] |
Traffic safety on the bridge, which has no median barrier, has been
a concern of state and local officials.
The people on the charter bus suffered the majority of the
significant injuries, a fire department spokeswoman said. Two other
vehicles were involved in the crash, she said.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families involved in today's
tragic accident," Ride the Ducks said in a statement.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it will investigate.
The accident comes nearly five months after an amphibious
sightseeing vehicle hit and killed a woman on a Philadelphia street.
In 2010, two tourists were killed when a tugboat pushed a barge into
a Ride the Ducks vehicle, also in Philadelphia.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Additional reporting by Bryan Cohen
in Seattle, Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Frank McGurty in New
York; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Eric Beech)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
