1 dead, 3 injured after car hits CTA bus, crashes into building

CHICAGO — One person has died and three others were hospitalized after a CTA bus was hit by a driver who ignored a traffic signal, sending the bus crashing into a building in the city’s Little Village neighborhood early Saturday morning, according to Chicago Police.

Police said an 18-year-old man was driving westbound in the 4000 block of West 26th Street around 4 a.m. when he failed to stop at a red light and hit a CTA bus traveling northbound, causing it to veer off the road and slam into a storefront, where it came to a rest.

Surveillance video from a business in the area captured the crash and the moments leading up to it, including less than four seconds prior, when several people finished crossing the road just feet from the point of impact.

According to police, the driver accused of causing the crash was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he later died. His passenger, a 21-year-old woman, was also transported to the same hospital, where she was reportedly in good condition.

Two women, including the driver of the CTA bus and a passenger, were both taken to local hospitals where they were reportedly in good condition upon arrival.

Amparo Galan said she was one of two passengers on the bus at the time of the crash. She boarded several blocks prior and said she briefly closed her eyes, something she never does, when the accident happened.

“I can’t walk fast. I can’t even bend down,” said Galan, who hurt her leg and her side when she was thrown from her seat.

Galan spoke with WGN News at the scene shortly after she was released from the hospital. She shared video from inside the bus immediately after the crash, which showed an officer breaking through the plexiglass to get to the injured driver.

“God protected me a lot,” said Mary, a street vendor in Little Village.

Mary said she arrives to begin work around 4 a.m. each day. She was getting ready to set up across the street in the same spot where she has for more than 10 months – the exact spot where the bus came to a rest.

The woman called the situation divine intervention and said her mind went to the worst-case scenario if she had been out there just five minutes earlier.

When the bus was pulled from the building, part of the façade collapsed, sending debris, including bricks, onto the street below.

As workers with the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation helped clear the debris Saturday, an inspector with the Chicago Department of Buildings was also on scene to assess the damage and secure the building.

The man killed in the crash has not yet been identified by authorities.

No other information was immediately available and police said no citations have been issued.

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