Tour buses crash in Times Square, leaving 14 injured, FDNY says

Two double-decker tour buses collided near Times Square Tuesday, injuring 14 people, according to the FDNY and NYPD.

Three people with serious injuries had to be treated at hospitals, including St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center and Bellevue Hospital Center, according to FDNY. The serious injuries are nonlife-threatening, an FDNY spokesman said.

"We're very fortunate that only three had injuries that required them to be mobilized," said FDNY Deputy Chief John Wieland.

The two buses, CitySights NY and Gray Line, collided around 3:22 p.m. at West 47th Street and 7th Avenue.

A guide on the red Gray Line bus was the only passenger injured; the rest were pedestrians hurt when one of the buses knocked down a traffic light pole during the collision, FDNY officials said.

James Stephens, who was selling theater tickets at a TKTS booth, said he saw an SUV cut off the red bus before it hopped the curb and knocked down the pole.

"He hits the light, literally smashed into it, smashes into City Sights bus and people scattered," Stephens said. "The pole fell like a broken matchstick."

An NYPD spokesman said the third vehicle involved in the crash was a GMC Yukon, but he had no details on the driver as the Collision Investigation Squad continued its investigation.

No criminality is involved, the NYPD said, and all three vehicles were going south at the time of the accident.

A TKTBook employee who witnessed the collision, Al Simpson, 26, said the crash caused a lot of screaming and sent people scrambling to get away. "You could see the sparks flying from the lamppost," he said. "It was quite frightening."

Simpson also said the Gray Line bus, which had the most damage, seemed to be traveling too fast. "It did look like it was speeding," he said. "It looked like it was trying to make the light."

Construction worker Russell Evans, 55, said that riders on the upper level of the bus were "flying off the top" of their seats.

"You heard a loud boom. People were panicking," Evans said. "People were getting out of the way and some people were rushing in to help."

The CitySights bus was being towed around 6:45 p.m. as investigators inspected the Gray Line bus.

A spokesman for Twin America, the company behind both buses, said in a statement it is cooperating with authorities.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured," said David Chien, the spokesman.