Three injured as Metrobus crashes into DC restaurant

A Metrobus ended up lodged inside a restaurant in northwest Washington early Saturday after a collision with an SUV, authorities said. It’s not something you see every day, and the scene drew a quick emergency response.

DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services said crews were dispatched at 7:13 am to the intersection of Seventh Street NW and Q Street NW in the Shaw neighborhood, reports the Washington Post. When responders arrived, they found a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority bus partially inside a corner restaurant.

“When we arrived, we found that there had been a crash involving a Metrobus and another vehicle, an SUV,” said Vito Maggiolo, a public information officer for DC Fire and EMS. “The Metrobus subsequently ran into the front of a restaurant, right on the corner here, partially inside the restaurant.”

Images released by D.C. Fire and EMS show the bus pushed into the front of Balkan restaurant Ambar. Officials said the building was unoccupied at the time of the crash, so no one inside was hurt.

Three people were transported to a hospital with minor injuries, Maggiolo said. Those injured were all adult women, including the bus driver, a passenger on the bus, and the SUV driver.

Emergency crews began working to remove the bus from the structure, breaking up sections of concrete to allow it to be towed out. Officials said a full assessment of the building damage would follow once the vehicle is removed.

“Our initial evaluation found no significant structural issues, other than our concern for this facade,” Maggiolo said.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. DC police confirmed that officers from the Third District responded to the scene for a two-vehicle collision involving a Metrobus, and said the circumstances surrounding the incident are still being reviewed.

Maggiolo noted the location has seen a similar incident before. “This is the second time in my lifetime,” he said. “Back in the mid ’80s, I was at the scene of a bus into the same building.”