Bus Crashes Into Building In West Orange; Driver Hurt, Residents Lose Homes

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A bus crashed into a building in West Orange last weekend, causing minor injuries for the driver, damaging a storefront and leaving several residents without a home, authorities said.

West Orange police and firefighters responded to a crash at 446 Main Street at 1:09 a.m. on Saturday, according to a statement from the town’s public information officer.

A NJ Transit bus collided with the storefront of the Oak Tree Nail Salon, one of several commercial spaces in a building that also includes residential apartments located above. The crash caused a lamppost on the sidewalk to go through the floor of one of the apartments and damaged the floor rafters.

The bus driver sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene, authorities said.

Residents living in the two second-floor apartments were displaced and relocated. The American Red Cross was notified to assist the impacted families.

Town officials released the following update about the damage to the building on Monday:

“Following an on-site inspection, the West Orange Construction Code Official deemed both the commercial business and the two upstairs residential units unsafe for occupancy. The apartments were deemed unsafe until the building can be inspected by an engineer or an architect. The West Orange Fire Department isolated and disconnected power to the affected areas and the rest of the building was determined to be structurally sound at this time.”

No additional information is currently available about the driver’s condition, or the cause of the crash, authorities said.

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