A manhole cover tore through the floor of an MTA bus in the Bronx Tuesday, injuring a woman in the seat above it, according to reports.
About half of the plate, weighing as much as 300 pounds, broke through the floor, ripping through plywood and rubber, the Daily News reports. As the driver was waiting for a light at the intersection of 170th Street and Inwood Avenue he heard a loud bang and a woman scream.
She was reportedly taken to St. Barnabas Hospital for minor injuries.
A Transit Workers Union official, Frank Austin, told the Daily news this is the first time he has seen anything like this in his 27 years of driving and investigating accidents.
It is unclear how the manhole tor through the bottom of the Bx11 bus but the DEP speculates that the bus’ tires hit the manhole at just the right angle to send it flying through the belly of the bus. Dislodged manholes can lead to major injuries and even death. In June 2014 CBS Boston reported thata 35-year-old Massachusetts man was driving a tractor trailer in the Bronx when he was struck in the head and killed by a dislodged manhole cover that crashed through his windshield.
Manhole cover rips through floor of an MTA bus, injures woman
as Gothamist reports.
