Posted on 09/24/2015 12:14:37 PM PDT by jazusamo
Photos at link
Chaotic scene as firefighters scramble to pull injured people from vehicles
Two fatalities and nine critical injuries were reported Thursday after a Ride the Ducks duck boat collided with a charter bus on Aurora Bridge in central Seattle.
The crash occurred shortly after 11:11 a.m., blocking all lanes of the state Route 99 bridge. Fire crews were on the scene and drivers were directed to use alternate routes.
The Seattle Fire Department confirmed that two people had died and nine were critically injured.
It wasn’t immediately clear how severe the injuries sustained were or how many people were hurt. It appeared several people were seriously hurt in the wreck, which occurred on a busy north-south highway.
Video from the scene showed passengers being removed on backboards. Firefighters were cutting through the vehicles to rescue people trapped inside.
A half-hour after the wreck, Seattle Fire Department reported that all passengers had been removed from both vehicles. About 50 people were evaluated for injuries.
Damage to the tour bus appeared extensive. Authorities had yet to say what caused the crash. It appeared as though the bus and the duck boat were both traveling south on the bridge.
Oh dear.
They were both traveling in the same direction?
Someone screwed up.
.
No it was oncoming....the duckboat went left of center and hit the bus on the driver side.
I hate that bridge.
There is a pic on twitter up that shows the scene, and the duck boat collided with the side of the bus at an oblique angle. It looks to me like the bus may have made a lane change without checking/signalling and the duck boat couldn’t avoid it.
Yep...From the pics it looks like a real mess.
The photo of the boat is helpful: the description was puzzling several of us.
The bridge was adequate for Great Depression levels of traffic, but not for what we have today.
I see that now-—the OP had them traveling in the same lane.
A sad ending to a fun day.
.
It helps to know that the “boat” is an amphibious vehicle that was on the road when the collision occurred.
:^)
RIP.
Prayers for the injured and families.
As a military vehicle owner/collector this is one of my biggest fears. If the DUKW (that’s the correct nomenclature for the “duck”) is at fault that gives the vehicle grabbers (and they’re out there just like the gun grabbers) more fuel for the fire that companies (and especially individuals) shouldn’t be allowed to own prior service vehicles. After nearly 30 years of restrictions from selling HMMWVs to the public they’ve just started being released but with the caveat that they are branded “off-road vehicles” only. Luckily I already have my deuce and gama goat registered to drive in TX.
Why? (I'm unfamiliar with it.)
It scares me every time I’ve gone over it. And I drive a lot - up and down I-5.
The lanes are wide enough for a 1933 Hupmobile or a 1926 Maxwell, but not for modern vehicles.
Had to have been an oncoming collision (that spun the boat around afterward), no way could you get that much damage from 2 vehicles going the same direction.
The Aurora Bridge is THREE lanes in each direction, no divider, and the speed limit on the thing is 45. People DO drive on it a LOT faster. In a modern car, you almost feel like you should drive with the wing mirrors folded in.
Witness reports say the ‘Duck’ swerved hard to the left right before the crash. It makes me think that it was either operator error OR the steering linkage broke. Considering those ‘Ducks’ date from WWII or soon after, it’s possible.
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