MCTS bus, school bus crash in Milwaukee; library struck
MILWAUKEE - A school bus driver was cited after crashing into a Milwaukee County Transit bus this morning. And the school bus came to a stop in the wall of a nearby library.
No one else, besides the driver, was on the school bus when police say the driver blew a red light and hit a southeast-bound MCTS bus shortly after 6 a.m. injuring a total of seven people.
And now closing the Center Street Library branch for the near future.
An empty school bus hit the books – or came close to it – coming to a rest in the brick wall of the Center Street Library branch Friday morning.
Milwaukee police say the driver of the school bus ran a red light, hitting the MCTS bus.
"I thought this was crazy right here. I've never seen one this big with two buses there are always accidents at this intersection," said neighbor Tracy Polk.
The complicated intersection -- cut across diagonally by Fond du Lac Avenue -- no stranger to close calls or crashes.
I was just worried about the victims. I was wondering if someone got injured. They said someone was injured on the city bus, that's what I was told," said Polk.
Thankfully, no one on either bus was seriously injured.
The driver of the school bus was taken to the hospital to be checked out, along with six people on the county bus, including the operator.
The owner of TBS LLC, which operates the school bus transportation company, says his driver -- thankfully -- seems to be doing fine.
As the school bus was peeled out of the library wall, it quickly became clear the damage was something.
"As for the building, there’s obviously some structural damage here, we’re having that assessed right now," said Eileen Force Cahill, the director of community relations for the Milwaukee Public Library System.
Thankfully -- no patrons in the library at the time. The bus hit the portion of the library that houses the children's room.
"The library will be closed today and as we figure out when it can be opened to the public we’ll keep people aware," said Cahill.
The driver of the school bus was cited in the crash.
As for what work needs to be done here, a library official says the boarded-up portion of the building will have to be replaced and repaired -- including brickwork and replacing windows.
The library will likely be closed for the next few days, or longer, depending on if there are supply chain issues of getting what's needed to make the repairs in a timely fashion.
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