Tragic Incident in Little Village
Early on Saturday morning, on July 20th at about 4 a.m. the least expected happened. A CTA bus driver was just doing her job. She had a passenger on board with her when then suddenly they were struck by a white Infinity sedan. Subsequently, after the collision between the both, the CTA Bus crashed onto a building that was located at 26th Street and Pulaski Road in the neighborhood of Little Village.
This event truly impacted everyone involved and shocked those who witnessed it. Additionally, surveillance video footage from a business in the area captured the crash and the moments that led up to it. It even captured several people who finished crossing the road just four seconds prior and feet away from the point where the impact occurred. This incident was massive considering the condition of how the scene was found. The white Infinity sedan was completely destroyed and the CTA bus was pushed and slid to the inside of a store.
How Did It Happen and Who Was Involved
According to police, an 18-year-old man was the one individual who was driving the white Infinity sedan. He was driving westbound in the 4000 block of West 26th Street, he failed to stop at a red light and that is when he impacted the #53 CTA bus, who was travelling northbound. This impact caused the bus to veer off the road and slam into a storefront.
Now, the 18-year-old was driving with another individual. His passenger was identified to be a 21-year-old female. On the other side of the reported incident, in the public transportation bus there was the bus driver and one passenger who were a 38-year old woman and a 52-year-old woman. The impact of this collision was so massive that they were all transported to the hospital.
Victims Taken to the Hospital
As mentioned previously, this crash was major and it definitely did injure the people involved. The 18-year-old and the 21-year-old were both transported by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital. On the other side, the 38-year-old bus driver was also transported to Mount Sinai and the 52-year-old was transported to St. Anthony Hospital. The passenger from the bus was identified as Amparo Galan, and she and the bus driver were both listed in good and stable condition.
Although it was truly a traumatic experience for all. On the other side, the 21-year-old was also listed in good and stable condition. However, when the 18-year-old white Infinity sedan driver was taken to the hospital he was in serious critical condition. Unfortunately, later he was pronounced dead, according to authorities. He was then identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as Ernesto Garfias.
Traumatic Experience
Furthermore, Galan expressed to WGN News shortly after she was released from the hospital the following about her perspective of the incident,
“I had just closed my eyes when the accident happened. I went flying from my seat and I hit myself in the corner of the other seat, right here, really hard, here in my ribs.”
Prior to the incident, Galan did not expect this coming at all. She also mentioned that she was on her way to work when this happened. This comes to show how impactful the incident was and also that 18-year-old Garfias was driving at a reckless speed to cause such accident when he ran through the red light. Especially because the velocity of the car had the capacity to push the entire CTA bus to the storefront of the building at the time of the impact. Also, Alfredo Bahena, a resident from the neighborhood of Little Village said the following,
“The impact had to be so devastating, so big where it just blew it off across the street. The person had to be fast. This is an alternator that came from under that hood there. To be at this distance, it had to be the velocity had to be pretty high.”
Building Collapses
Now, after the CTA bus has crashed onto the building after the collision, the building also ended up in very bad state. The bus had to be removed from the storefront. People who were near the location of the crash or even just walking by saw in disbelief as part of the exterior of the building collapsed down as the bus was being pulled out of the building.
Now, the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation went ahead later on Saturday to help clean the debris of the incident. There was also an inspector with the Chicago Department of Buildings who was assessing the situation and the aftermath damage. This truly made an impact in the community and residents of Little Village. But it also did not shock many. Considering that a lot events of any kind tend to happen very frequently in the community. Therefore, a CTA Bus crashing into a building after a collision was not an exception in Little Village.
Written by Jeanette Sanchez
Sources:
NBC Chicago: 1 dead, 3 injured after CTA bus crashes into building following collision with car in Little Village
Fox 32 Chicago: Driver killed in collision with Chicago CTA bus identified
CBS Chicago: Driver killed, 3 others hurt when car strikes CTA bus on Chicago’s Southwest Side
Chicago Sun-Times: 1 dead, 3 hurt after CTA bus crash in Little Village
WGN TV Chicago: 1 dead, 3 injured after car hits CTA bus, crashes into building
ABC 7: 1 dead, 3 injured after CTA bus crashes into building following collision with car in Little Village
Featured Image Courtesy of Kevin Zolkiewicz Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of Eric Allix Rogers Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
Second Inset Image Courtesy of H. Michael Miley Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
