CeFaan Kim, Eyewitness News
Updated 3 mins ago
FINANCIAL DISTRICT, Manhattan (WABC) -- A woman has died after being struck by an MTA bus in Lower Manhattan Friday evening.
The area was packed with tourists and Wall Street employees at the time.
Witnesses were frantically trying to get the bus driver's attention, before he eventually stopped.
Police believe the victim may have been struck by the charging bull statue on Broadway, four blocks away.
"People jumped off the bus, even the driver jumped off the bus, and they looked. Guess they heard something dragging or whatever and looked under there, there was something under there. I guess they thought it was a prank or whatever, the bus pulled off again and then I guessed they realized that it wasn't, that it was a body under there," said Benjamin Layton, Coach Bus Employee.
Benjamin Layton says at first, he thought it was all a joke, but just moments later things took a tragic turn.
Cops say it was around 5:30 p.m. Friday when this MTA express bus, struck a pedestrian somewhere by Whitehall and State Street in Lower Manhattan, dragging that woman for several blocks.
The bus finally stopped when witnesses flagged down the bus driver.
Cell phone video captured first responders desperately trying to rescue the victim.
The woman was pinned under the back of the bus, nut it was too late.
"They were trying to lift the bus up to get the bus up off of her. The next thing you know all the other fire departments and the police came and everybody is running around trying to get, putting stuff up under the bus trying to lift the bus up," a witness said.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene located at Trinity and Exchange Place.
Police say about half a dozen passengers who remained on scene are now sharing with investigators, what they saw and heard.
For Layton, it still all feels so surreal.
"I wasn't sure. I didn't realize it was a body until the second time I looked up under there. (What did it look like to you?) It looked like, I don't know, maybe a bunch of clothes or something like got caught up in the wheel, got caught up under the axle of the bus," Layton said.
The bus driver was taken to Beth Israel Hospital for evaluation.
He remained on scene, and so far has not been arrested.
The victim has not been identified.