A city bus smashed into a firetruck in Queens on Sunday afternoon, seriously injuring two firefighters and 12 civilians, including children, according to witnesses and officials.
The fire engine was heading west on Ditmars Boulevard with flashing lights and screaming sirens when it was struck by a Q100 bus that was heading north on 21st Street, witnesses said of the crash, which happened at 12:20 p.m.
All of the injured were expected to survive, but many were left dazed and bloody, according to startled bystanders.
“There was a little baby bleeding,” said Diana Temkin, a teaching assistant who was eating with a friend at an outdoor table at the Bowery Bay restaurant on Ditmars Boulevard.
The bus came to rest just a few feet from their table — a firefighter dangling out of his window nearby.
The two firefighters and civilians had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to an FDNY spokesman. They were all taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, except for one firefighter who went to Mount Sinai Hospital.
The truck was on its way to an all-hands fire at 8-01 26 Ave. in Astoria.
The bus had the green light, but the truck was using its emergency lights and siren, according to MTA spokesman Christopher McKniff.
The bus jumped a curb and came to rest on the sidewalk, he said.
McKniff added that he was unsure if the bus driver had been given a Breathalyzer test by investigators.
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