Four people were hospitalized after a driver, who police believe had a medical emergency, traveled the wrong way down West Chester Pike, officials said. This led to a multi-vehicle crash that left an SUV vertically wedged between a SEPTA bus and a truck.
The crash occurred on West Chester Pike between Eagle Road and Manoa Road in Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night. Investigators said an unidentified man in a Chevrolet Equinox was driving erratically the wrong way down the road. Police believe the driver was having a medical emergency at the time.
"At one point, a witness described a vehicle riding on the median strip of West Chester Pike," Haverford Police Deputy Chief Joseph Hagan said. "And then the vehicle then crossed into the westbound lanes of West Chester Pike and continued eastbound."
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Skyforce10 was over the scene shortly before 8 p.m. where an SUV could be seen wedged between a tractor-trailer and a SEPTA bus. A sedan was also crushed behind the truck.
Police told NBC10 that a total of five vehicles were involved in the incident. A passenger on the SEPTA bus, the driver of the Chevy Equinox, and two other people in vehicles involved in the crash suffered minor injuries and were taken to nearby hospitals, investigators said.
"If you first pulled up on the scene, it was horrific," Deputy Chief Hagan said. "You see a vehicle wedged in between a tractor-trailer and a SEPTA bus. I was off-duty at the time and I got the call and the first thing I got the picture sent to me. My reaction was, it was horrific."
West Chester Pike is currently closed at the scene of the crash.
Previous SEPTA crashes
Tuesday's incident was the seventh crash involving a SEPTA vehicle in Philadelphia or the surrounding suburbs in less than three weeks.
On July 27, an out-of-service SEPTA trolley crashed into a historic home in Southwest Philadelphia.
On July 25, a driver was injured after a SEPTA bus jumped a curb and struck a wall in Center City.
On July 24, seven people were hurt after two SEPTA trolleys collided in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
On July 23, a SEPTA bus crashed into a pole in Philadelphia, injuring four people.
A SEPTA spokesperson told NBC10 33 collisions involving their vehicles were reported between 2020 and 2022. Passengers were hurt in five of those 33 crashes.
However, between January 1, 2023, and July 25, 2023, alone there were eight crashes involving SEPTA vehicles, according to the spokesperson.
This story is developing. Check back here for updates.
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