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Nine injured after suburban police pursuit ends in crash with SEPTA bus

Not immediately known was why Upper Merion police pursued the car into West Philadelphia.

Suburban police chasing robbery suspects car made contact with a Route 31 Septa bus at 37th and Spring Garden. Septa says nine people were injured, one critically, in the 10:04 p.m. accident. Handcuffed suspects sit on the ground at the rear of the car. Tuesday, September 3, 2019.
Suburban police chasing robbery suspects car made contact with a Route 31 Septa bus at 37th and Spring Garden. Septa says nine people were injured, one critically, in the 10:04 p.m. accident. Handcuffed suspects sit on the ground at the rear of the car. Tuesday, September 3, 2019.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer
    by Sam Wood
    Updated 
    Published 

Nine people were injured Tuesday night after an SUV pursued by police crashed into a SEPTA bus in the Mantua neighborhood of West Philadelphia.

The crash happened shortly after 10 p.m. at 37th and Spring Garden Streets, said a SEPTA spokeswoman. One person was left in critical condition and had been trapped in the wreckage. Five passengers and the bus operator reportedly were injured, as were two additional male passengers in the SUV.

Right before the crash, police from Upper Merion were chasing three robbery suspects and had handed off the pursuit to State Police, said SEPTA’s Carla Showell-Lee. The Toyota SUV was racing west on Spring Garden Street when it slammed into the left rear of a Route 31 bus. The Route 31 travels between City Hall and 76th Street.

Upper Merion police could not be reached for comment. The Toyota appeared to be totaled. Two suspects were handcuffed at the scene.

It was unclear how many passengers were aboard the bus. Investigators and rescue remained at the scene at 11 p.m.