Engineers take closer look at county bus lodged in corner of Little Haiti building

Part of building expected to collapse once bus is removed

MIAMI – Inspectors were back at the scene of a major crash Tuesday, trying to figure out how to remove a county bus that slammed into a building in Little Haiti over the weekend. 

Miami Department of Fire-Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll said the bus collided with a white Ford Ranger Sunday and then struck a pillar outside Omega's Fashion on the corner of Northwest Second Avenue and Northwest 54th Street.

The city held off on removing the bus Monday and engineers were back at the scene Tuesday morning to take a closer look at one of the building’s support beams. 

The bus remained wedged in a corner of the structure.

The city said the weight of the structure is being held up by the bus. 

Engineers are in agreement that a part of the building will give way once the bus is removed. 

"There is a concern that the minute you remove that bus, the building might collapse, which is where our building department comes into play, because obviously safety it our No. 1 priority," Stephanie Severino, of the city of Miami, said.  

The city built two structures out of wood on two sides of the building, where the support beams once stood on Sunday. 

Barricades went up around the building Monday afternoon. 

Police reopened the area to traffic, but expect to close it again once crews start the process of taking the bus out.  

In the meantime, traffic is alternating on 54th Street and is down to a single lane on Northwest Second Avenue.

According to witnesses, the driver of the pickup truck ran a red light, causing the driver of the bus to lose control and crash. 

Nearly a dozen people were injured, including eight people on the bus and two people in the truck. 

The owner of the building told Local 10 News he isn't sure whether he'll have the money to make repairs and reopen.

"If you were me and come in -- I've been coming here for 40 years, every day. And now you can't even go inside right?" Arsene Omega said. "Thank God nobody died but, you know, I'm thinking next week, the week after. What am I going to do?"