A quiet Saturday afternoon in Houston turned into a terrifying scene when a METRO bus flipped off a highway overpass and tumbled down an embankment, injuring fourteen people. The dramatic crash happened just after 3 p.m. near the busy McGowen Street overpass, where Highways 59 and 288 intersect.
Authorities say the bus was struck from behind by a speeding vehicle, sending the transit coach over the edge. Witnesses described hearing a “massive boom” followed by screams as the bus hit the ground below.
“I saw dust shoot up like an explosion,” said a driver who pulled over and called 911. “People were climbing out of the windows. It was chaos.”
Thirteen people on board were rushed to nearby hospitals with minor injuries. The driver of the car that allegedly hit the bus was critically hurt and remains hospitalized.
A METRO spokesperson said the bus operator walked away without injuries but was “shaken and extremely distressed.”
Houston Fire Department crews arrived to find one woman pinned inside the wreckage. HFD Captain Mario Gordon said his team fought the clock to reach her.
“We used the jaws of life, saws, cutters — almost every tool we had,” Gordon said. “She was in great pain. We were trying to comfort her while working as fast as we could.”
The rescue took several tense minutes. Firefighters eventually freed the woman and carried her up the embankment on a stretcher.
Local officials note that the interchange where the crash happened is one of Houston’s busiest and most accident-prone. Traffic routinely bottlenecks there during weekends, and drivers often stack up behind merging lanes from multiple freeways.
“It’s a tight curve, and people don’t slow down enough,” said a Houston traffic engineer who has studied the area. “A hard rear-end collision at that spot can be catastrophic.”
Crews worked well into the night to remove the destroyed bus and secure the crash site. METRO publicly thanked all agencies involved and acknowledged the emotional toll of the incident.
“Their coordination and professionalism helped ensure a swift response during a challenging situation,” the agency said. “Our thoughts remain with everyone affected.”
The investigation into what caused the crash is ongoing. Police are reviewing traffic cameras and interviewing passengers.
Several survivors told local reporters they feel fortunate to be alive.
“I’m still shaking,” one passenger said as she left the hospital. “The bus dropped, and all I could think was, ‘This is it.’ I don’t know how we survived.”
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Your headline indicated that it flipped off the road and dropped right down onto the other roadway. Good headline grabber. It worked. But then I find that, yes it did flip over but it actually slid or rolled down to the other roadway. Don’t become progressive tainted journalists.