Speeding bus hits 6 during Stockholm Marathon

STOCKHOLM – A bus raced out of control down a set of steps and into a busy square during the Stockholm Marathon on Saturday, injuring six people and causing a panic among spectators, officials and witnesses said.

A lot of people were at the square, heading to watch the Stockholm Marathon.

"I heard two bangs and first I thought it was a fight, but then I see a bus racing down the stairs step by step," witness Charlotta Asell told The Associated Press.

Asell, 30, said people screamed and she ran toward a police car parked nearby to get help.

"I put my hands over my eyes," she said. "I saw it was bad and that people were seriously hurt, but I didn't want to see it."

Asell said a stroller lay crushed on the ground, but that the child had escaped without any serious injuries.

Karolinska Hospital said it had received a seriously injured man, two women with lighter injuries and a 1-year-old child with light injuries. Two people with shoulder injuries were also taken to Stockholm South General Hospital, that hospital said.

The victims were all pedestrians and no one on the bus was hurt.

Stockholm Public Transport spokeswoman Gunilla Glans said it is unclear what caused the crash and that the bus operator Keolis has started an investigation. She said the bus driver was also taken to hospital, but had not been injured.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects that accident occurred during the marathon. Adds photos. This story is part of AP's general news and sports services.)