New Jersey Transit bus broadsides another, killing driver

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Two commuter buses collided in New Jersey’s largest city Friday morning, pushing one of the vehicles onto its side, killing one of the drivers and critically injuring seven other people.

The person killed in the crash was the driver of the New Jersey Transit bus that slammed into the side of another NJ Transit bus that was carrying approximately 20 passengers around 6 a.m.

The exact number of injured is not known, but Mayor Ras Baraka said seven other people were critically injured.

Video from news helicopters showed the two tangled vehicles came to rest on a median. The bus that was struck was on its side, its frame bent and the other bus lodged in its undercarriage. Firefighters could be seen pulling passengers through a side window and loading them onto waiting stretchers and into ambulances.

The crash occurred when a bus with no passengers was beginning its route between Newark and Dunellen and broadsided a bus carrying approximately 20 passengers between Irvington and Clifton, NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office was investigating the crash.