Eight people were injured, including two critically, after a stolen vehicle collided with a TTC bus in North York early Monday morning, Toronto police say.
The crash happened shortly before 2 a.m. in the area of Bathurst Street and Wilson Avenue.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, Duty Inspector Brian Maslowski said initial information suggests that two vehicles, a black SUV and a white BMW, were travelling at a high rate of speed along Wilson Avenue.
When the two cars reached the intersection at Bathurst Street, the black SUV cleared the intersection but the BMW did not, Maslowski said.
The BMW struck the drivers’ side of a southbound TTC vehicle and the impact of the collision caused the TTC vehicle to spin around, facing northbound.
He noted that officers quickly arrived on scene to find the BMW in flames.
Officers were able to pull two occupants from the vehicle and extinguish the fire.
Two other occupants of the vehicle needed to be extricated by Toronto firefighters, Maslowski added. Two occupants of the BMW were rushed to a trauma centre in life-threatening condition.
The driver and four passengers on the TTC bus suffered only minor injuries, including a woman who was ejected from the bus, Maslowski said.
Police said the driver of the black SUV did not remain at the scene and investigators are still searching for that vehicle.
Police are asking anyone who may have been in the area at the time of the collision to contact police with dash camera footage.