Witnesses: Bus wreck scene terrifying

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Witness who saw a woman get hit by a Capital Metro bus and then lay trapped under the vehicle on Monday night described the events as terrifying.

"It was horrific," recalled Keith Loerch , who was driving by and stopped to help direct traffic. "Being able to hear that with my windows rolled up. Hearing people on the bus scream and her screaming from under the bus,"

DeAunderia Bowens said she was chatting with the young women on a different CapMetro bus. After the victim departed that bus near the corner of Jollyville Road and West Braker Lane in northwest Austin around 6:40 p.m., she tried to cross a crosswalk with others. And that's when the accident happened.

"The bus was turning left and as the bus started coming around, the bus wasn't going fast, it was just making a typical left hand turn,"  Bowens said Tuesday. "And then the bus hits her. Kind of from the side of the bus, not directly in the front. And then rolled over her, so the bus went up and then down. And I'm like, 'oh my God, the bus just hit her!'"

Loerch said he immediately called 911 and was on the phone for awhile "talking to the guy that was holding her hand underneath the bus."

"I just couldn't believe it," he said. "She didn't even have enough room to move her head. There was probably half-a-foot of room and she just couldn't move."

Officials said the woman in her 20s was initially trapped underneath the bus but she was conscious. An officer on the scene said she was in a crosswalk at the time of the accident.

Medics were able to get her out and transported her to University Medical Center Brackenridge with unknown injuries.

"I think it's quite a miracle," Bowens said.

According to a Capital Metro spokesperson, the bus was making a left turn, stopped for pedestrians to cross, and then struck the woman when it continued with the turn. 

The bus is operated by Veolia Transportation, a CapMetro contractor. The bus driver was placed on adminstrative leave with pay while an internal investigation is done, which is common practice for incidents involving serious injuries. The driver has worked for Veolia for four years and has no prior accidents.

Several witnesses at the scene said the woman had just gotten off a different bus before making her way across Jollyville Road. 

Police are continuing their investigation.