Las Vegas firefighters carried out a dramatic rescue Friday after a packed transit bus collided with a sedan, leaving 15 people injured and one person trapped inside the badly crushed car.
The violent crash happened shortly after 10 a.m. near the intersection of Fremont Street and 13th Street in downtown Las Vegas.
At the scene, firefighters were seen cutting the roof off a mangled white sedan as they worked to reach the person trapped inside. The rescue operation lasted more than an hour.
The injured person, who appeared to have suffered serious injuries, was eventually removed from the wreckage, placed on a stretcher and rushed to a nearby ambulance.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department initially reported that 14 people were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
The Las Vegas Fire Department later said a total of 15 people were transported to University Medical Center following the collision.
Bus passenger Jeffrey Pieper said the transit bus was approaching the intersection when he noticed the sedan coming toward it.
According to Pieper, the driver of the car “didn’t want to wait” before entering the roadway.
The impact sent at least one passenger flying from his seat and onto the floor of the bus.
“There was a gentleman who was thrown off his seat,” Pieper said. “He was laying on the floorboard on the inside of the bus.”
Pieper said the injured man complained that he could not lift his legs and was in severe pain.
“He said, ‘I can’t lift my legs. My legs hurt,’” Pieper recalled. “He was moaning a lot. ‘My back!’”
Pieper said he also injured his leg and suffered what he described as a “major panic attack” after the crash.
Another passenger, Donna Fox, said the sedan pulled into the bus’s path moments before the collision.
“The car pulled out and the bus ran into the car,” Fox said.
The force of the impact caused both the bus and the sedan to veer off the northern side of the road. The vehicles then struck a tree, a trash can and a fence.
“All I know is we hit the trees and I flew,” Fox said. “My arm is bleeding. My head is hurt.”
Ronald Pearson, who lives near the crash scene, said the sound of the collision was impossible to miss.
“I was standing outside of my room over there and I heard the biggest boom of my life,” Pearson said.
A spokesperson for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada directed questions about the crash to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Authorities have not yet announced whether any citations or charges will be filed, and the investigation into the cause of the crash remains underway.
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