Freak bus accident kills NJ infant

An officer works on the scene of a bus accident in West New York, N.J., Tuesday. Authorities in northern New Jersey say a baby has died in a freak accident involving a shuttle bus and a lamppost.
An officer works on the scene of a bus accident in West New York, N.J., Tuesday. Authorities in northern New Jersey say a baby has died in a freak accident involving a shuttle bus and a lamppost.

WEST NEW YORK, N.J. (AP) - An out-of-control bus struck a lamppost Tuesday, sending the pole crashing onto a baby stroller and killing the 8-month-old girl inside, authorities said.

The infant's mother was not injured, the Jersey Journal reported. Officer Michael Stetson told the newspaper the mother was crying hysterically when he arrived, and that he administered CPR to the bloodied infant.

Police said they did not know what caused the bus to go out of control.

The vehicle was operated by Sphinx Transportation, which provides shuttle service between New Jersey and New York City, just across the Hudson River from West New York.

A woman who answered the telephone at the Sphinx offices in Ridgefield told The Associated Press the company had no idea what caused the accident, and that the driver had been hospitalized. The woman declined to be identified.

A witness told the newspaper the bus dropped off passengers then went out of control, striking the lamppost, hitting a tree and another lamppost and then ramming into a parked car.

The mother, child and driver were all taken to Jersey City Medical Center, officials said.

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