A minivan collided with a GUTS bus at approximately 1 p.m. on Tuesday as the bus attempted a U-turn into the university’s Canal Road entrance, sending two of the van’s passengers to the hospital.
Dupont bus driver Noel Tiongson was on his way to the garage for his lunch break when he made the difficult U-turn off of Canal Road up the driveway to the GUTS bus depot near the Jesuit Residence. He was the only person on the bus. A tan Toyota Sienna LE Minivan with diplomatic license plates collided with the back of the bus as it completed the U-turn.
The driver of the minivan reported to the Metropolitan Police Department that he had a green light when he first observed the bus coming down the street, according to the MPD incident report. The report says that Tiongson “fail[ed] to yield the right of way at a signal.”
The van was driven by 19-year-old Humza Khan. Amin Khan, age 13, Riaz Khan and Zohma Khan were also in the vehicle when it struck the bus, the report said. Riaz and Zohma Khan’s ages were not able to be verified. The relationship between the four passengers is unclear, though all share an address in McLean, Va.
The MPD report states that D.C. ambulances took both Riaz and Zohma Khan to Georgetown University Hospital after both complained of injuries. They have since been released.
Driving east on Canal Road involves a slow U-turn in order to navigate onto Georgetown’s campus.
“When I made my turn, [the] car was at the second green sign back there,” he said, indicating a spot about halfway between the Canal Road entrance to campus and the Key Bridge entrance.
Tiongson, a GUTS bus driver since 2001, said he called 911 after the crash. A DPS officer who happened to be driving down the road just a few cars behind the minivan was “on the scene in just a matter of seconds,” Tiongson said. GERMS was also on the scene in less than 10 minutes.
Jeff Van Slyke, director of the Department of Public Safety, arrived on the scene minutes after the crash.
“The bus had a van stuck underneath the back of it. The van was squashed like an accordion,” he said.
The van was towed away at approximately 2:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Its front airbags were both inflated, the entire front bumper was lying in the street in front of the car, the left headlight was cracked and the right was completely shattered. The van’s wiper fluid bin was visible, cracked and hanging out the right side of the front of the car, and the right front tire was deflated.
Insurance on the minivan expired on Nov. 28 of last year, according to the MPD report.
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