The accident happened at 7 p.m. local time on First Avenue, close to Gramercy Park, said Kevin Murphy, deputy fire chief.
Footage posted by the fire service on Twitter shows an open-top double-decker tour bus crashing into the back of another city bus. “Both buses seemed to be full,” said Paul Hopper, deputy chief of the fire department’s emergency medical service.
The circumstances of the accident are being investigated, but US media reports that the tour bus ran a red light at an intersection and then collided with the other vehicle. Several people flew out of their seats, others were injured by flying shards of glass.
“The glass flew around and everything suddenly slowed down,” passengers testify to CBS News about the accident. “It was like we were in a movie. But then reality came.”