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Delivery Cyclist Collides With Bus in Times Square Friday, Witnesses Say

By Shaye Weaver | December 23, 2016 1:55pm
 The victim went under the bus and was taken to Bellevue Hospital with trauma on Friday morning.
Pedestrian and Bus Collide in Times Square on Friday
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TIMES SQUARE — A man was struck and injured by a tour bus in Times Square Friday morning, according to officials.

A delivery man riding a bicycle was heading west on 45th Street when he collided with a Go New York Tours bus at Seventh Avenue at about 11:35 a.m. on Friday, according to the FDNY and witnesses.

FDNY officials said the victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital with trauma, but they did not specify what his injuries were.

Witnesses said the victim was was hit by the southbound bus when he crossed Seventh Avenue. He slid under the bus, according to Amine Elkhezzani, a 37-year-old Spider-Man performer who filed a false arrest lawsuit against New York City.

"He went right under the bus," he told DNAinfo New York on Friday. "It's like stuff you'd see on YouTube. The back wheel rolled over and stopped on top of the guy."

Elkezzani said the bus stayed on top of the victim for 30 to 40 seconds and then moved off him.

"I was literally crying," he added, saying that he had just got off work when it happened.

The tour guide who was on the bus when it collided with the victim said he was almost done with the tour and as the bus moved into the intersection, the bike approached from the west and went under the back of the bus.

"He couldn't have had the light," said Avi, who declined to give his last name. "I hope he's OK. It's sad."

A tour bus staffer on the corner remarked that it shocked him to see it happen.

"You come out to go to work and you don't know you're going to be under a bus," he said.

Go New York Tours officials declined to comment.

The bus driver stayed on the scene after the accident. Police did not say whether he was being charged.

Police said they didn't have further information about the crash or the victim's condition.