RENTON, Wash. — Maple Valley Highway reopened late Thursday night after a crash that hospitalized six people shut down the roadway for hours in Renton.
The crash involved seven vehicles, including a Metro bus, dump truck and five passenger vehicles. Authorities said the dump truck struck two cars and a Metro bus, which then struck other vehicles.
The bus driver was the only person onboard Bus #9, which was on Route 150, and headed back to base. He was hospitalized for observation.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but Renton police said it's possible the driver of the dump truck lost control as it traveled on 140th Way SE, before crashing through the vehicles that were waiting at a red light at the intersection.
"Obviously, there had to have been a lot of energy transferred from that dump truck coming down," said Renton Police Officer Matt Nugent. "140th Way SE is a pretty steep hill, so it's a little windy, but it's very steep. So you can get a lot of speed coming down, especially if a vehicle were to have some type of mechanical failure."
SkyKING video showed aerials of the large scene of the crash, which was first reported around 6:08 p.m.
Nugent said the one person reported to be in serious condition is the dump truck driver.
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