Metro Transit bus crash in Fridley injures 2 people

The bus was making a left turn at 53rd and University Avenues NE when it was struck by a northbound pickup truck.

Two people apparently were injured in a crash involving a Metro Transit bus and a pickup truck Thursday morning at a busy Fridley intersection, authorities said.

The Route 10 bus had a green arrow and was turning left onto 53rd Avenue NE. from southbound University Avenue shortly before 6:30 a.m. when it was struck by the northbound pickup, according to a witness in a car behind the bus.

There were no passengers on the bus, said Metro Transit spokesman John Siqveland.

An ambulance was sent to the scene and two people in the pickup were taken to the hospital, Siqveland said.

The bus and pickup have been removed from the scene.

The bus driver will undergo drug and alcohol testing, which is standard, Siqveland said.

The pickup “just kept coming,” said Maria La Hoz, a driver who was immediately behind the bus and preparing to also turn left. “I heard a big boom. Luckily, nobody was behind me.”

The next thing she saw, La Hoz said, were occupants of the pickup, “three guys in the middle of the street where the snow is. They were calling 911.”

La Hoz said that she and the bus both were observing the green arrow and making their left-hand turns when the pickup hit the bus on the right side near the front door.