By Debra Friedman
Connecticut Post Online
GREENWICH, Conn. — Fifteen people were taken to the hospital following a bus and tractor-trailer collision on Interstate 95 South near Exit 3, an accident that caused extensive delays throughout the area Tuesday morning.
Officials at the accident scene said eight people were taken to Greenwich Hospital and seven were taken to Stamford Hospital by ambulances from Greenwich, Stamford, Darien and Port Chester. Most injuries are believed to be minor, officials said. Medics on scene declared the accident a “mass casualty incident,” immediately prompting backup medical assistance from neighboring towns, according to town officials.
The driver was the most seriously injured after he was pinned between the first row of seats and the steering column and dashboard, according to the Deputy Fire Chief Tom Nixon, who oversaw the rescue efforts.
Nixon said it took 30 minutes for firefighters to extricate the male driver out of the front of the bus using the Jaws of Life and industrial saws before paramedics ccould transport him to the hospital. Nixon said the front end of the bus was crushed but the driver remained “conscious and alert” the entire time, Nixon said.
Police, medics and firefighters boarded the bus and treated all 29 passengers while the extrication was taking place, according to Joseph Soto, who oversaw the medical end of the accident scene.
When the driver was freed, firefighters cut open the front windshield and a side door enabling the rest of the passengers to exit the bus, officials said.
Nine people were put on backboards and pulled out through the front windshield of the bus, according to Nixon.
The rest of the injured passengers were able to walk off the bus without any assistance. Those not taken to the hospital boarded a town bus and were taken to a parking lot on Arch Street until the bus company sent another vehicle to transport them out of the area. It is not clear where the bus was coming from or heading to at this time. State police said they are still putting together the details of the accident.
As a result of the collision, traffic was backed up on the southbound side of Interstate 95 all the way to Norwalk and into Rye, N.Y., for northbound travelers. East Putnam Avenue and Indian Field Road in Greenwich were also jammed with traffic, police said.
Police shut down the on ramps to Interstate 95 at exits 4 and 5 following the accident. Two lanes of the highway were shut down until 11 a.m., when the accident was cleared from the roadway.
Nixon said firefighters remained on scene until 11 a.m., to deal with liquid that had spilled onto the road as a result of the accident.
Soto said passengers remained calm on the bus while the rescue efforts were taking place. Soto said the driver was taken to the trauma center of Stamford Hospital. There was no update on his condition Tuesday afternoon.
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