Calls began pouring into Berkeley police at about 4:30 p.m. reporting a crash involving two female pedestrians and a shuttle bus at the corner of Center Street and Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said.
The bus, which is operated by the University of California and runs between the Berkeley campus and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, had been traveling westbound on Center Street and was making a right turn onto northbound Shattuck Avenue, Kusmiss said.
The women, who knew one another, were walking together in a crosswalk at the intersection when one of the women was struck and run over by the bus, Kusmiss said.
The other woman injured herself when she then banged on the bus with her hands to gain the driver's attention, Kusmiss said.
A large crowd formed around the collision site as Berkeley firefighters worked to extricate the woman from beneath the bus, Kusmiss said, and once freed, the woman was transported to a local trauma center with serious injuries to her lower extremities.
The other woman was treated on the scene and released.
Campus police declined to comment on the incident citing the Berkeley Police Department's lead role in the ongoing investigation.
