NEW YORK -- At least eight people were injured when a casino-bound bus crashed into a townhouse in Queens, New York, tearing out a portion of the building's wall. Six of injured passengers were taken to area hospitals, a spokesman with the FDNY told Mashable, while two refused further medical assistance.
The accident occurred when a red Resorts World Casino bus, named number 76, ripped into a commercial and residential building in the Rego Park neighborhood shortly before 2:30 p.m. ET on Monday.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by today's bus accident," a spokesperson for Resorts World Casino told ABC 7. "We are cooperating fully with the authorities in the investigation."
Video from the scene showed a gaping hole in the building caused by the crash and dozens of firefighters working to free entrapped passengers from the bus. A Periscope user recorded the immediate aftermath.
There are reports of multiple injuries after a bus crashed into a building in Queens: http://t.co/TSqy90tFR3https://t.co/tODvEB3DZl— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) August 24, 2015
PJ, a volunteer medic who was first on the scene, told ABC 7 that he found the bloodied bus driver "stuck behind the wheel" but alive.
Some of the injured passengers were seen being carried out on stretchers. An NYPD spokesperson told Mashable they were "minor injuries" and nobody was in critical condition.
BREAKING: Bus hits building on 63rd Avenue in Rego Park, Queens. #FDNY reports at least 7 hurt; conditions unknown. pic.twitter.com/jwarDshEpR— N. J. Burkett (@njburkett7) August 24, 2015
Photo Of Queens **10-60 Bus Accident** At Woodhaven Boulevard At 63rd Avenue pic.twitter.com/7s3znrMzMB— NYCFireWire (@NYCFireWire) August 24, 2015
Police said that all of those injured were on the bus and nobody has been found injured inside the building, though an FDNY official told a news conference the "second floor of the building is in the bus."
The Red Cross said it had responded to the scene "to assist affected residents and offer help as needed."
#RedCross at the scene of bus crash on Woodhaven Blvd in Queens.— NY Red Cross (@redcrossny) August 24, 2015
Deputy Inspector Judith Harrison, Commanding Officer of the 112 Precinct used Twitter to ask motorists stay away from the area due to the ongoing investigation.
Please avoid N/B Woodhaven Blvd at 63 Avenue due to a collision requiring an investigation pic.twitter.com/GiXla5z5jS— NYPD 112th Precinct (@NYPD112Pct) August 24, 2015
The Resorts World casino, which is run as part of a subsidiary of the Malaysian conglomerate Genting Group, offers a free bus service from locations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Elmhurt, Flushing and Chinatown, to make gamblers' trips to the slots "even easier," according to its website. More than a dozen buses were still in service on Monday afternoon, and the affected bus remained on its real-time tracking tool two hours after the crash.
Other buses were listed with a green status symbol. The affected bus was accompanied by a blue one.