UPPER WEST SIDE — An SUV slammed into a city bus at a busy Central Park West intersection Friday afternoon, sending six people to the hospital with minor injuries, fire officials and witnesses said.
The northbound M10 bus was stopped on Central Park West at West 75th Street about 2:30 p.m. Friday when a black Escalade traveling north careened into the back of the bus, witnesses said. The hood of the Escalade crumpled against the back of the bus.
The driver of the bus was removed on a stretcher with a neck brace and was wheeled into an ambulance.
He and the five other injured people, at least some of whom were passengers on the bus, were taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the FDNY and witnesses said.
About 10 people were riding the bus at the time of the accident, including one woman who was removed on a stretcher, witnesses said.
"We heard a loud bang and then felt the impact," said Jackie Ross, a passenger on the bus. "We were jolted forward."
Ross said her neck hurt, but she declined to go to the hospital.
Another passenger, Lucille Watson, 84, said she hit the side of her face in the impact.
"I was sitting on the side of the bus," Watson said before getting in an ambulance. "I sat with my face against the window and it bumped it."
Ed, a bystander who did not give his last name, said he heard the SUV hit the bus.
"There was a big bang with lots of smoke," he said. "I'm glad no one was seriously injured."
