One passenger was killed and 31were injured after the top of a tour bus entering Miami International Airport smashed into an overpass at the Miami International Airport’s arrivals entrance Saturday morning.
The accident brought traffic in and out of the airport to a halt and authorities scrambled to rescue passengers trapped inside the large white bus, which was carrying 32 people. All except one were transported to the hospital, three in critical condition. The identity of the dead passenger was not released as of 11a.m. but authorities were still trying to remove the body from inside the bus, said Greg Chin, an airport spokesman. It appeared that the dead passenger was sitting near the driver’s seat, which was crushed.
Many of those who were hurt suffered "major injuries," said Chin. It was not immediately known what company the bus belonged to but Chin said it was scheduled to travel to West Palm Beach. There is no visible label on the bus only it’s bus number 101.
About a dozen fire trucks and six ambulances blocked the airport entrance, and traffic entering the airport was delayed by about 30 to 40 minutes. Although no flights have been affected or delayed so far, traffic was tied up. Only one lane on the lower level arrivals entrance remained open.
The departures entrance, on the upper level, was not blocked, but there may still be a delay getting to the airport.
"Give yourselves extra time to get to the airport," Chin said.
Pedro Gomez, a taxi driver, was among those stuck in traffic.
"We have been waiting three hours waiting to leave," he said.
People arriving from their flights were peeking from their windows to get a view of the scene. On the first floor, in arrivals, the crashed white bus remained on site with the top missing over the driver’s seat. Shattered glass covered the floor.
The back side emergency door was missing and a bus chair lay on the ground, as well as luggage, which had been packed into the lower level of the bus.
"You would think the driver should have know his bus was too high," Susan Lillis said, flying in from Baltimore. "You would think he would have been here before."
Peter Beltre, a taxi driver, speculated that the bus driver miscalculated the height of the overpass in the arrivals area.
"I have seen buses that are too high have a section to drop people off," Beltre said. "There are yellow signs with warnings."
Mike Barber, who was running late to his flight to Los Angeles with American Airlines, said: "There are worse things than losing a flight."
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
One dead, several injured at bus accident at MIA
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One dead, several injured at bus accident at MIA
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One dead, several injured at bus accident at MIA
