City Of Miami Engineers Assess Removal Of Bus From Building
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - City of Miami engineers are assessing the structural integrity of a building after a bus collided with it over the weekend.
The public bus slammed into the building on NW 2nd Avenue and 54th Street on Sunday after it was involved in a collision with a pickup truck.
On Tuesday morning, engineers were still working to determine if the building will stand once the bus is removed.
Miami building officials are worried about a possible partial collapse of the building when they go to remove the bus.
Witnesses said the pickup truck ran a red light, crashing into the bus and causing it to slam into the Omega Fashion store.
Eight people from the bus, including the bus driver, were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The two people inside the pickup truck were rushed to Ryder Trauma Center.
The impact took out one column and severely damaged another. At the scene, special crews built a support column to secure the building until experts could asses the removal process.
"City officials and county officials are working together to figure out how to remove the bus. There is a concern that as you remove the bus, the building might collapse," said City of Miami spokeswoman Stephanie Severino.
The plan, according to Severino, is to do some additional shoring up of the building with more than the wood bracing that is in place now. After that the bus will be removed, with a contractor on site to deal with any debris as needed.
Arsense Omega, the owner of the clothing and fabric store that sits on the corner of NW 54th Street and 2nd Avenue.
"I've been coming here for 40 years, every day, now you can't even go in, what do you think, thank God nobody died but next week, the week after that what am I going to do," said Omega.
"As I stand here talking to you I can't even figure out where should I start," Omega said.
"It's like they are protecting their job. The people that I talk to, they cannot give me any information or whatever just leave me in the dark."
Omega claims officials won't give him any information.
He says the building helped his oldest daughter become a doctor.
"Three months ago, she graduated and wants to get her doctorate degree and you know what I said I'm going to sell the building. I'm going to pay for your school," Omega said.
For now, he says he will just pray there will be another way he can provide.
"No matter how strong you are, there will be a time you have to come to your knees. It's really bothering me, eating me up inside," said Omega.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Omega with expenses related to his business. Click here if you would like to help.
