MATA bus, tractor trailer involved in crash

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) – Memphis police and emergency officials responded to an accident Friday morning between a MATA bus and a tractor trailer.

"It was like a rollercoaster ride," passenger Rodrickus Taylor said.

Officials said 23 adults and two children were on the bus when it turned left off Getwell on to American Way. As the bus turned, an 18-wheeler suddenly struck its front door. The bus received heavy damage, slamming into a pole that holds high tension wires.

A witness described the accident scene as "pure chaos" as passengers on the bus tried to exit it after the collision.

"Everybody was screaming and hollering, and I was trying to get to people," Joe Porter said.

Porter and other witnesses tried to help as family members began showing up.

"My friend called me and said the MATA bus bad been hit by an 18-wheeler," Amanda Bray said.

Ambulances transported eight people to the hospital, while the other passengers were put on a second bus and taken to a hospital to be checked out.

Battalion Chief Brad Rust of the Memphis fire Department said no one was seriously injured.

"Just some various minor injuries," he said.

But at the hospital, Brittany Harbin was worried about her mother, who was on the bus.

"Her arm is broken and her head is injured," Harbin said.

The driver of the tractor-trailer declined treatment at the scene.

According to a Memphis Police Department spokesperson, the driver of the bus was cited for making an improper left turn and failure to maintain a safe lookout.