Two children among 15 injured in CTA bus crash in Gage Park

A CTA bus and an SUV were involved in a head-on crash Monday morning in the 5000 block of South Western Avenue. | photo from Fire Media Affairs

Two children were among 15 people injured Monday morning when a CTA bus and an SUV were involved in a head-on crash in the Gage Park neighborhood on the South Side.

A southbound SUV drifted into the northbound lanes and collided with the No. 49 bus shortly before 10 a.m. at Western Avenue and 50th Street, CTA spokeswoman Lambrini Lukidis said, citing preliminary information.

Authorities said 15 people were injured and taken to hospitals, while nine others refused medical treatment.

The woman driving the SUV was pinned inside the vehicle and taken in serious-to-critical condition to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said. Two children who were in the SUV were also taken to Stroger Hospital in fair-to-serious condition.

Six adults on the bus, including the bus driver, were taken to the hospital in fair-to-serious condition, Langford said. The woman who was driving the bus was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers in Evergreen Park.

Another six people on the bus, all adults, were taken to the hospital in good condition, Langford said.

Witnesses told investigators the bus blew the horn, but the SUV drifted into oncoming traffic and made impact, Langford said.

No citations have been issued as authorities investigate.