Pedestrian killed after bus crashes into Belltown building

SEATTLE — A Metro bus crashed into a building, killing a woman and leaving a driver in critical condition Saturday afternoon.

The Seattle Fire Department posted about the crash at 5th Avenue and Battery Street at around 3:45 p.m.

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Seattle Bus Crash

Fire officials said 13 people were injured in the crash. Of those, 11 were in stable condition, one was in critical condition, and one died from their injuries.

The person who was killed was a woman who was walking on the sidewalk when she was hit.

Another person who was trapped in their car had to be rescued by firefighters and was taken to Harborview in critical condition.

The 11 people on the bus had minor injuries.

Seattle Fire said firefighters searched inside the building and confirmed no one was inside the part of the building that was hit. Crews said there was no significant structural damage to the building.

Police are investigating whether drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.

In a statement, King County Metro said, in part, “Our primary concern is with the loss of life and the health of those who were injured.”

People who live nearby were shaken by the crash.

One of those people is Mike Fulop. He described the moment he heard the bus crash into the building, a mangled red sedan pinning it against the wall.

“I just heard a really big crash. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was the movie or whatever. But then you know there’s some screaming that just followed,” he said. “You can see the human suffering around it, because there’s screaming, there’s obviously somebody that was really injured.”

Seattle police said the red car was heading south on 5th Avenue while the bus was heading east on Battery. That’s when the two collided, killing a woman on the sidewalk.

Firefighters had to use the jaws of life to free the driver of the sedan who was trapped in their car.

Yuliia Vidzhe also lives nearby.

“I for a second I like panicked. I was like what happened here you know,” said Vidzhe. “It’s not the first time I’ve heard someone hit or almost get hit, so it’s kind of a trouble area.”

Residents in the area say the intersection is always causing problems.

“It was always a corner that I had to really pay attention, because if you’re trying to just turn, then plenty of times people don’t pay attention - and so you gotta pay attention for them,” said Fulop.

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