School bus crashes into Center City bank

A Center City corner was a mess of shattered glass after a school bus jumped a curb and set off a crash that involved several vehicles Thursday afternoon.

No children were aboard the bus when it hit a taxi and what appeared to be an Uber Black car outside the TD Bank at 15thStreet and John F. Kennedy Boulevard just after 1 p.m.The impact of the wreck knocked off the taxi’s bumper, plowed down the corner traffic light and left a gaping hole in the bank’s glass facade.

Bystanders and onlookers were still snapping pictures of the wreckage with their iPhones by late afternoon as police tried to clear the scene.

No injuries were reported from inside the bank andtraffic was rerouted around JFK Boulevard for the remainder of the day. TD Bank employees were sent home.

Miresh Kundhi operates the street side magazine kiosk at the corner of 15thand JFK. He said he was serving a customer lottery tickets when he saw the School District of Philadelphia bus barreling towards the TD Bank.

“I was taking a customer and I heard a big noise, so I was looking out for my customer, he was trying to get away from this thing. I came out [of the kiosk] and the school bus was pushing the car right into the bank.

“It’s usually a pretty busy corner,” he said.

A spokeswoman from nearby Thomas Jefferson University Hospital said that 14 people were admitted to the hospital sometime after 1 p.m. with minor injuries. By 2 p.m., one patient was treated and released.

Judith Schmidt, the vice president of corporate media relations for TD Bank, released the following statement on behalf of the bank.

“We are thankful no one was seriously injured in this accident — the safety of our customers and employees is our number one concern. In light of the accident our store at 15th and JFK will remain closed the rest of the day. We refer you to the authorities with any further questions.”

Fernando Gallard, a spokesman for the School District of Philadelphia, said that the bus had been coming back from dropping off students and was empty at the time of the crash, save for the driver, who was transported to Hahnemann University Hospital for observation. He had no futher details as of late Thursday.

Philadelphia Police are still sorting out the details of exactly what happened. They did not immediately return calls seeking comment.