County workers remove bus from business in Miami's Little Haiti

Four days after crash, store owner deals with damage from bus

MIAMI – Miami-Dade Transit removed a public bus on Thursday after it crashed into a Miami's Little Haiti clothing store on Suday.

Workers were back at the crash site Thursday morning, removing the signage and cutting off the front section of the bus to help with the removal process.

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

Two wooden structures were built and placed under the building for further support.

The bus crashed into Omega's Fashion after swerving to avoid a pickup truck that ran a red light Sunday at the corner of Northwest Second Avenue and Northwest 54th Street.

Eight passengers in the bus and two people in the truck were injured in the crash.

Omega's Fashion owner Arsene Omega said he's concerned if he'll ever be able to re-open for business.

"If you were me and coming here for 40 years every day, and now you can't even go in, what would you think?" a tearful Omega told Local 10 News. "Thank God nobody died but, you know, I'm thinking next week, the week after, what am I going to do?"

Omega said he was about to sell his building and pay off his daughter's university loans that she accrued while following her dream of becoming a doctor.

He said a letter was posted on his building Thursday, ordering him to remove all his property as the building will be demolished after the bus is removed.

"Very devastating," Omega said. 

Miami-Dade Transit expects the bus to be removed from the building by Thursday evening. 

 


About the Authors:

Alex Finnie joined the Local 10 News team in May 2018. South Florida is home! She was raised in Miami and attended the Cushman School and New World School of the Arts for high school.

Glenna Milberg joined Local 10 News in September 1999 to report on South Florida's top stories and community issues. She also serves as co-host on Local 10's public affairs broadcast, "This Week in South Florida."