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.
“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.”
Actually it could be. The bus is thin skinned aluminum and while the DUKW is also aluminum it’s several magnitudes thicker and stronger. Also you’d probably see arcing skid marks from the other lane if the back swung around. Not saying it wasn’t a head on just pointing out why the DUKW could have caused that much damage.
Assuming you meant "...just before the crash," Viewing the photo of the crash scene makes no sense.
So you are saying that the impact swung the DUKW almost completely around?
Well you can definitely see 4 lanes in that pic ... but the background trees also indicate that that scene is near one of the bridge ends (north end, going by midday shadows), possibly where feeder lanes merge (which is why we can see 4?).
High-speed merging error?
Death toll has risen to 4, very sad RIP
Yes...witnesses say the bus was headed south and the Duck was heading north.. The Duck swerved hard to the left, impacted another vehicle, then hit the bus, which spun it around.
Also updating....now they’re saying four dead, 45 injured.
Also, the passengers aboard the bus were from North Seattle College, and were a bunch of international students and staff. A lot of Asian kids in the video coming from the scene.
Thanks for posting. It was just announced on NW Cable News and I see the article title at link reflects it also.
One victim was pronounced at scene and 3 died enroute to hospital.
Looks like the regular bus got the worst of it.
That’s what a passenger has said as well...
Yes, looks like the front or left front of duck hit the left side of the bus next to driver and just ripped it open.
I did lock mirrors on that bridge once. I was lucky in that all I lost was a mirror.
Like what the iceberg did to RMS Titanic.
That’s a very good comparison.
My wife and I have ridden a lot of Duck tours around the country, including this one in Seattle.
And I don’t know about Seattle, but a number of the Duck companies have started building their own copies due to the shortage of the originals.
So this one may not be military surplus.
They showed the accident scene on FOX, and I knew there were fatalities before they even had information about injuries. Very sad.
[I hate that bridge.]
You think THAT’S bad, you should have tried crossing over the old two lane bridge in Charleston SC.
That would be expected. Those old DUKWs are some stoutly built vehicles.
My husband and I rode on one a couple of weeks ago in Philadelphia. We went into the Delaware river on that silly thing..
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