UPDATE: Power Restored Following Greenwich Bus Crash

GREENWICH, CT -

Updated: 12:30 a.m. March 17:

According to the Eversource website, power has been restored to all 470 downtown Greenwich customers who spent several hours without power Wednesday night after a bus hit a utility pole at the corner of Mason Street and Bruce Park Avenue shortly before 5:30 p.m.

Original story: 10:38 p.m. March 16:

Hundreds of downtown Greenwich residences and businesses were without power late Wednesday after a Connecticut Transit articulated bus struck a utility pole at the corner of Mason Street and Bruce Park Avenue.

It was about 5:27 p.m. when the bus tried to negotiate a right turn from Mason onto Bruce Park while a second CT Transit bus was making a left turn from Bruce Park onto Mason. According to Cos Cob Fire Police Patrol and Greenwich Police at the scene, there was not enough room for the two vehicles because of traffic.

The unidentified driver of the articulated bus — a two-section bus with an accordion-like mid-section — tried to back up and struck the utility pole and a stop sign, according to officials. The impact cause the pole to shift, which in turn caused power lines along Bruce Park Avenue to shift, according to emergency personnel.

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The power lines between Mason Street and Greenwich Avenue shifted against the metal scaffolding that is erected at the construction site of condominiums at 409 Greenwich Ave., according to officials.

Emergency personnel at the scene said there was concern that the scaffolding became electrified. Eversource crews were called and shut off power to the area, affecting 470 customers in the area of Railroad and Bruce Park avenues and Mason Street, according to the Eversource website and officials at the scene.

It was an eerie sight to look down Railroad Avenue and see the street darkened. Officials said the outage extended east to the Pet Pantry store at the corner of Railroad and Field Point Road.

It was about 9 p.m. when a crew from Bill's Service of Stamford used a four-axle heavy duty wrecker to pull the bus away from the pole as an Eversource truck equipped with large claws, held the pole in place. About 10 minutes later, the bus was towed away.

Officials at the scene could not estimate when power lines and the utility pole would be repaired and power restored.

It was not immediately known how many passengers were on the bus. However, emergency personnel said no one was injured and the driver was issued a warning for unsafe backing.

Photos: the scene of the Connecticut Transit bus crash at the intersection of Mason Street and Bruce Park Avenue on March 16, 2016. Credit: Barbara Heins.