Around 10 a.m. Saturday morning, April 17, a city bus crashed into 57 College St. in downtown Asheville. The crash damaged the Medierranean Restaurant, Stella Blue and Spa Theology, ruptured a gas line and seriously injured a pedestrian. The Asheville Police Department is asking for witnesses of the accident to come forward.
"Shortly before 10 a.m., a city bus struck the building at that location, causing a gas line rupture," an announcement released the evening of the accident reads. The bus also struck an unnamed pedestrian on her way to meet someone for a regular breakfast,. She was seriously injured and taken to Mission Hospitals for treatment. The city has revealed that the bus driver was also taken to the hospital for a routine examination.
At press time, the woman's identity remains unreleased, as does the cause of the accident. Initial reports — that a truck traveling the wrong way struck the bus and threw it off-course — turned out to be false.
Photographs of the scene show damage to a bus, a truck, other vehicles and surrounding structures, and the city closed the street from Haywood to Lexington for most of the day, reopening the thoroughfare later that evening after the gas leak was repaired.
By Monday, April 19, repair crews were already working on cleaning up the damage. Police continue to investigate the accident and are asking anyone who witnessed the wreck to call 251-4085.
