13 hurt in NYC Theater District bus crash

A traffic accident involving two double-decker tour buses in the city's Theater District has injured 13 people, three of them seriously.

None of the injuries was believed to be life-threatening, the Fire Department of New York said.

The accident occurred yesterday around 47th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, an area of Times Square usually teeming with tourists near the TKTS discount Broadway tickets booth and the Hershey's Chocolate World store. It shut down a stretch of Seventh Avenue.

At least eight people, including several bus passengers, were treated at the scene, city officials said. One of the buses crashed into a light pole. The glass in the front of the bus was shattered, and glass was strewn on the pavement.
 

Rose Cantillon was visiting the city from Ireland and was nearby.

"I was sitting on a bench, and I turned around and heard screaming, and I ran," she said.

The cause of the accident was under investigation. Telephone calls to the tour bus companies seeking comment were not immediately returned yesterday.