TTC streetcar hits bus head-on, 4 injured
Four people received minor injuries after a Toronto streetcar and a bus collided head-on at Main Street and Danforth Avenue Saturday morning.
Paramedics were called to the intersection around 10:15 a.m. ET, and transported the four patients.
One person was transported on a backboard, two were shaken up, and another patient complained of chest pains, according to paramedics.
The intersection was closed and several Toronto Transit Commission buses and streetcars were re-routed following the crash, but service and the intersection were back to normal by 1:30 p.m.
(Warning: The video of the bus and streetcar being pulled apart contains coarse language.)
The crash occurred as a southbound streetcar, followed by a bus, entered the intersection just as another streetcar entered heading north, according to TTC COO Gary Shortt. The southbound bus turned left and collided with the northbound streetcar.
A police investigation is underway, Shortt told reporters.
The crash comes just eight days after a Toronto bus struck and killed 14-year-old Amaria Diljohn — one in a series of recent incidents that have raised questions about TTC safety.
CEO Andy Byford ordered a safety review of the transit system after a number of videosemerged showing TTC buses running red lights. That review was fast-tracked following Diljohn's death.
Shortt told reporters the TTC is safe.
"I don't think there's any concern about getting on a bus, streetcar or subway train for that matter. We've got an excellent record. It's unfortunate this happened but I've got full confidence in our drivers and vehicles," Shortt said.
Both vehicles can be repaired and there was no damage to the streetcar tracks, Shortt said.
