Nathylee Francis-Harrison remembers hearing the bus driver yelling and honking the horn before the TTC bus she was riding on collided with a construction truck.
The crash, which left one person dead and injured 13 others, including Francis-Harrison, occurred at around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday on Lawrence Avenue East at Railside Road, near the Don Valley Parkway exit.
Francis-Harrison said she had just dropped off her kids at a daycare and was on her way to a job interview.
"I know I was just about to reach my stop. I heard the bus driver saying ‘idiot' and honked his horn and after that I don't remember anything," she told CTV Toronto.
"I know I was crouched over on the ground or something but I just remember how much blood there was and people around me."
The collision left the front end of the bus completely mangled and killed a 43-year old female passenger. Nine others were rushed to hospital with serious injuries and four others suffered minor injuries.
Francis-Harrison suffered a broken collar bone and back and has stitches under her lips and nose.
Tuesday's crash also left Yvonne Bullard, who called 911 after hearing the crash, in shock. She said she never anticipated that the startling sound she heard outside her home on Tuesday would turn out to be a deadly collision.
"I heard this big bang, like a really big explosion," said Bullard who then ran to her window and saw the smoking metal wreckage of the bus.
A woman named Janice told CTV Toronto that her daughter was one of bus passengers rushed to the hospital.
"My prayers are for everybody that's rushed to the hospital, including my daughter," she said at the scene of the crash.
Toronto police's traffic services unit is now handling the main investigation. Officers are asking anyone that may have witnessed the collision to come forward including the driver of a transport truck believed to be on the road at the time of the crash.
The TTC said it will also conduct an investigation into the accident.
A Toronto police spokesperson said that investigators are attempting to piece together what occurred.
"We don't know if (the driver) was turning because of the collision or he was steering or he saw the imminent collision coming. It's looking more and more like the bus may have been doing a lane change, (possibly) to avoid (the truck). We have to look at the difference in speed of both of the vehicles," said Const. Hugh Smith.
Both lanes of Lawrence Avenue East near the Don Valley Parkway were closed for most of the day Tuesday, as emergency workers and the police accident reconstruction team attended the scene. TTC officials also diverted several bus routes including the 54 Lawrence and the 95 York Mills.
With files from Natalie Johnson, Ken Regular and Colin D'Mello
