Police: Driver seriously injured, 7 passengers hurt when MTA bus was left dangling from overpass after crash in Morris Heights

A number of passengers and a driver are hurt after an MTA bus shot right off the road through the barrier, and was left hanging over an overpass late Thursday night in Morris Heights.

News 12 Staff

Jan 15, 2021, 10:45 PM

Updated 1,435 days ago

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A number of passengers and a driver are hurt after an MTA bus shot right off the road through the barrier, and was left hanging off an overpass late Thursday night in Morris Heights.
The bus was hoisted back up onto the University Avenue overpass and towed away after workers and firefighters tried for hours to figure out how to use cranes and tow trucks to pull up the bus.
The crash left debris, including the smashed guard rail, a utility pole and other damages in the area.
Police reopened the road to traffic as Department of Transportation crews have installed safety measures on the ground all morning. They put in concrete barriers to block where the bus went through the guard rail.
Police have confirmed that there was nothing criminal that happened when the bus flew off the overpass just after 11 p.m.
Police say the accident happened at the interchange between the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Major Deegan Expressway.
Police say seven passengers suffered minor injuries while the driver was seriously hurt. They were all taken to the hospital.
In a presser on Friday, the MTA says the driver of the tandem bus passed the breathalyzer test at the scene of the accident. 
They say the 55-year-old bus driver refused the FTA-mandated drug and alcohol test upon arrival at the hospital. They say the bus driver suffered cuts, bruises, and body pains and was able to help evacuate passengers on the bus.
Photos posted by the FDNY show that it's an articulated bus, a double bus with the accordion section in the middle. The accordion-like part ripped in half and left the back part of the bus on the highway and the front part vertical, which smashed down onto the road below.
News 12 reached out to the MTA which said in a statement, “The MTA’s goal is to have the safest transportation system in the nation, and when an incident like this occurs we take it very seriously. We are conducting a full investigation and will implement lessons learned in order to prevent it from happening again. We are certain this was a terrifying incident for those customers on the bus. Our hearts go out to them with hope that they can recover quickly.”