Construction accident sends overhead sign on 520 Bridge crashing down onto Metro bus; 8 injured
SEATTLE -- A construction accident at the SR 520 Bridge sent an overhead sign crashing down onto the top of a Metro bus driving across the span Tuesday night, officials said. Eight people sustained injuries, at least one of them major.
Both the eastbound and westbound lanes of the bridge were closed overnight. WSDOT reopened the bridge to traffic just before 5 a.m. Wednesday
Late Tuesday night, Washington State Patrol trooper Chris Webb tweeted that it appeared a construction crane at the bridge dropped a steel pipe, which bounced off a Metro bus traveling across the bridge and struck an overhead sign. As a result, the sign came crashing down on the bus.
Of the eight people in the bus suffering minor injuries, ages ranged between 22 and 51 years old. Bus passenger Rhee Da-Hye from Federal Way, passenger Robyn Tullos from Everett, passenger Whitney E Lee from Seattle, passenger Yanilu Ives from Seattle, passenger Benjamin Zee from Seattle, passenger Fahad Ali from Seattle, passenger Ruta Ikauniece from Seattle and passenger Cassandra Oh from Kent were all injured.
A utility truck driver, Steven Jorgensen from Seattle, was also injured in the crash.
Everyone transported to Harborview Medical Center for evaluation. One person was in intensive care in serious condition following the crash on Wednesday, Harborview officials said.
Bus driver Jeffrey O'Neill was not injured.
The State Patrol said it appeared the crane had hit the overhead sign itself.
The Washington State Department of Transportation later issued a statement clarifying what happened. It said its contractor on the 520 Bridge project was using a crane to lift piles of pipe off a flatbed truck when one of the piles dropped and struck the overhead sign, which spanned both directions of the bridge.
The sign then crashed down and part of it landed on top of the bus. Te roadway was blocked for six hours and 36 minutes, officials said.
One person had to extricated from the bus, Seattle Fire said.
It was the second major accident on the SR 520 Bridge project in less than a week. A construction worker fell 60 to 70 feet on the project last week and died of his injuries in the hospital.