Police said that they were not sure how the accident happened, but it involved a Toyota Coaster bus, registration number 242, which was registered to CJ Bus Service. Police also said a red Hyundai Accent was involved.
According to Police Inspector Walter Evans, shortly after 4pm the Accent was traveling west on Bernard Road, while the bus was traveling east on Bernard Road when the accident took place in the vicinity of Grant Street.
The bush crashed into a utility pole in front of the Mount Sinai Medical Centre.
Inspector Evans confirmed that all passengers on the bus sustained serious injuries, but were conscious when carried away to the hospital.
The force of the impact was so severe that it caused the utility pole to shatter into three pieces, leading to a power outage in several communities along Bernard Road.
Five ambulances and two fire trucks were called in to assist as the injured persons were taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital.
Charlene Outten, an employee at Mount Sinai Medical Centre, said she was one of the first persons on the scene.
“I was on my computer and I heard a loud sound,” she said. “I noticed that the electricity was gone so I came and I saw that there was a bus overturned and the lamp pole was split. I saw some children climbing out of the bus and heard some of them screaming, so I assisted them.
“Some of them had lacerations on their hands so I cleaned their wounds and tried to calm them down until help came.”
Ms. Outten said that the children appeared to have suffered serious trauma, as they were severely disturbed by the incident.
She said that the accident appeared to be a scene out of a movie and added that the children appeared to be no more than 12 or 13 years old.
As for the driver of the Accent or the two adult passengers on the bus, authorities failed to mention any information concerning their status.
The driver of the bus appeared to have walked away from the accident unscathed.
Authorities were last night continuing their investigations into the matter
By: Perez Clarke, The Bahama Journal
