Six injured after bus hits cruise ship passengers at Port Everglades

[Flip2cruise]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-603portcrash,0,1455945.story?coll=sfla-news-broward

 

PORT EVERGLADES -- A Greyhound bus slammed into a group of passengers fresh from an Caribbean cruise as they waited to board a bus at Port Everglades Sunday morning, sheriff's officials said.

 

Six people were transported to Broward General Medical Center with injuries that were not life threatening

Lindsay McGrath, 23, of Woodbridge, New Jersey, had just spent eight days traveling with Carnival Cruis Lines to San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortula and the Bahamas with her parents, siblings, cousins, aunt and uncle. The group of ten, tanned and rested from their vacation, disembarked from the cruiseliner Sunday morning. They were waiting by their luggage to board a bus to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when the Greyhound lurched toward them, hitting a concrete post first.

 

"It was two seconds. If it weren't for that , I'd be dead," said McGrath as she sat in a wheel chair, right leg raised, at the emergency room of Broward General Medical Center. She was waiting to be treated and said she had no feeling in her right leg.

 

The bus struck her, though other family members managed to dodge it. In the scramble, her mother, Nancy McGrath, 50, fell and injured her hand, and her aunt, Carole Baumgartner, 49, injured her side.

 

Both were admitted and being treated for their injuries.

 

"I felt like I was in a movie," said Eric Baumgartner, 24, McGrath's cousin. "I turned my head and the bus was coming straight at us."

 

The McGraths and Baumgartners had been waiting for a bus to take them to the airport for a flight to Newark, New Jersey. They still hoped to board a later flight.

 

Lindsay McGrath said her family was close and vacationed together every year. They had planned the cruise for months.

 

"This put a damper on everything," said her father, Robert McGrath, 50. "I'm angry. All I want now is to get my family home safely."

 

Officials were investigating the cause and details of the crash.

[Wennfred]

Thats pretty bad, thanks for posting. There is alot going on at the Cruise Terminal with forklifts moving those large heavy luggage bins around, Greyhound buses, taxi drivers and other people trying to manuver around people to find a place to wait for the people getting off the ship. Look around when you are standing outside the terminal or stand in a safe place away from traffic.

 

 

Fred

[cusyl]

What a horrible ending to a wonderful vacation. I hope they are not injured too badly. Not having feeling in her leg sounds serious.

[jbhcw]

How awful, hope no one was seriously hurt. Miami is also very, very busy, almost got run over by a forklift one time, you definitely have to watch where you're going and watch out for all the vehicles:eek:

[caribbean dreams]

Looks like both Liberty's are having problems this week.

First the Norovirous on Liberty of the seas and now this with the Carnival Liberty passengers.

[Flip2cruise]

Updated info: Dispatcher behind the wheel:eek:

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cgreyhound05jun05,0,6996683.story?coll=sfla-news-broward

 

 

A Greyhound Bus dispatcher who slipped into the driver's seat of a bus and drove it into a crowd of cruise ship passengers at Port Everglades this weekend was trying to move the vehicle because he thought it was parked too far from the terminal, according to a Broward Sheriff's Office report released Monday.

 

Shane L. Howard, 23, of Lauderhill, does not have a license to drive buses, investigators said.

Howard thought moving the massive vehicle would be easy, but he quickly lost control of the bus, injuring six people and hitting a concrete pillar, the report states.

 

"When he placed the vehicle in drive he apparently did not apply the brakes, and the bus lurched forward, hitting the pedestrians and the pillar," Deputy K. T. Bove wrote in the report.

 

Howard was cited for driving without a commercial license and careless driving.

 

Investigators also ticketed the bus driver, Michael C. Randolph, 30, of Miami, saying he should have made sure no one else could get behind the wheel.

 

Neither Howard nor Randolph could be reached for comment Monday.

 

Greyhound Lines Inc., based in Dallas, is conducting an internal investigation to determine what disciplinary action, if any, the two men will face, said company spokeswoman Anna Folmnsbee.

 

The six hurt in the crash, most of whom were from New Jersey and Virginia, had stepped off Carnival Cruise Lines' Carnival Liberty. They were taken to Broward General Medical Center with nonlife-threatening injuries, the Sheriff's Office said.