Denver police say 16 injured in RTD bus crash; 2 in critical condition

Denver police say 16 injured in Denver bus crash

DENVER — A Denver city bus struck two vehicles after running a red light at a downtown intersection Saturday, injuring 16 people, two of them critically, police said.

Police spokesman Matthew Murray said the Regional Transportation District bus was northbound on Lincoln Street, a major route in the city, when it collided with the car and a pickup truck at about 5 p.m.

Sixteen people were taken to St. Anthony’s and Denver General hospitals, Murray said. Denver Fire Department personnel had to extricate several people from the three vehicles.

Witnesses said the bus struck the car first, then pushed the pickup into a parking lot and against a billboard pole, according to The Denver Post. The truck’s driver emerged with assistance and sat on a curb until an ambulance arrived.

Police were interviewing witnesses at the scene of the accident, which occurred at 8th Avenue and Lincoln Street.

The bus driver was taken to a hospital with injuries, said RTD spokeswoman Pauletta Thomas. The driver’s condition wasn’t immediately known.

Thomas said the transportation agency was working with police to determine what happened.

Keith Napodano, who was returning from a snowboarding trip Saturday, told the newspaper that he was traveling behind the bus when he and his girlfriend saw it “punch through the red light.”

“I watched the blue car get T-boned and all the windows exploded,” Napodano said. “It did a full 360 and a half.”

It was not clear whether the two people in critical condition had been on the bus or were riding in one of the two other vehicles.

Authorities urged motorists to avoid the area.