According to the Seattle Police Department On-Line Blotter, today a multi-casualty traffic accident on the Highway 99/George Washington Memorial Bridge, a.k.a. Aurora Bridge, required massive response from emergency teams, including Seattle Fire, the Shoreline Fire Department, and Medics, and snarled traffic throughout Fremont.
A Ride The Ducks tour vehicle, headed northbound, collided with a charter bus, headed southbound, and several passenger vehicles at 11:11a, on Thursday, September 24th. Early reports list four deceased and another 44 people transported to area hospitals, some in critical condition. The collision, and the following investigation, shut down traffic north and southbound on the iconic bridge structure.
The City of Seattle Emergency Management Operations Center has activated to coordinate response and investigation efforts among many government agencies, including the Seattle Department of Transportation. Collision investigators are reviewing witness reports of a possible mechanical issue with the vehicle owned by Fremont-based Ride The Ducks. Police have conducted preliminary evaluations of all the drivers involved in the tragic accident, and they did not find any evidence of intoxication.
Further reports, found on Facebook, stated that iconic restaurant Canlis would be closed tonight due to inaccessibility, but that workers there would be serving food and beverages to the teams of emergency responders and investigators working on the bridge. Also, King County METRO has issued reports throughout the day of reroutes to buses #5, 16, 26Express, 28Express and the RapidRide E-line, taking all the busses along Fremont Ave N and across the Fremont Bridge. METRO has also given warnings of delays to all other transit routes that travel through or near the affected area. Please visit the METRO Trip Planner if you need to use busses to travel today.
Please consider the victims, and their families, this evening – and especially if you find yourself impacted and inconvenienced by this terrible tragedy.