While crews work to repair the brick and mortar on the building that crumbled from the force of the Resorts World Casino bus crash in Queens Monday, the people who were on board the bus say they're still dealing with their own physical and emotional traumas.
Passenger Pinder Whitfield, who was sitting two seats behind the driver when the bus slammed into the three-story building at 62-87 Woodhaven Blvd. in Rego Park, recalled how chunks of the building and bus cascaded over him, trapping him.
"Half of the building came in through the front seat where the driver was," said Whitfield, 69. "Nobody could get out because of the debris. No one could get out."
He vividly remembers the terrified screams of fellow passengers.
"Everybody was screaming, 'Get me out of here, get me out of here,'" he said.
Three other passengers and the bus driver were trapped inside the bus, wondering if the building was going to crumble on them.
"All of a sudden, everybody starts screaming and yelling, thinking the building was going to come down on the bus," he said.
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PJ Marcell, a volunteer firefighter in neighboring Forest Hills, witnessed the crash.
"The building literally crumbled around the bus," said Marcell. "The bus hit it with brute force, sheared almost three-quarters of its nose off."
Meanwhile, the staff of Professional Mortgage Solutions inside the building heard and felt the crash: a "big shake and a two-part sound, almost like an explosion," according to Jill Manieri.
"I thought an airplane landed on the building," said George Drimba.
The workers rushed out to help. Drimba scurried up a 6-foot pile of bricks and glass to help the 39-year-old driver through the shattered windshield.
"There were bricks all over him. All over him. So I removed a few bricks just to see his face," said Drimba.
Drimba cleared the debris and spoke to the driver until FDNY arrived.
"I removed as much as possible and then he opened his eyes, which was a good sign," said Drimba. "I asked him to stay with me, but he was passing in and out, in and out, in and out."
Drimba's co-workers watched the rescue.
"George is a heck of a guy, he has a huge heart and is a good Samaritan," said Manieri.
The driver was taken to New York Hospital Queens in serious to guarded, according to fire officials. Officials say they had to use the Jaws of Life to get him out.
Cellphone video taken in the moments just after the crash show passengers on board trying to escape by climbing through side windows with the help of neighbors and passersby, who grabbed ladders to help them. Whitfield has emerged sore from the crash but is grateful to the strangers who put their lives on the line for his.
"They really did a great job assisting and getting us off the bus," he said.
Heavy machinery was used to pry the mangled bus out of the building by Monday evening.
According to police, the bus driver was going northbound on Woodhaven Boulevard when a vehicle made a sharp turn in front of him at 63rd Avenue, officials said. In an attempt to avoid hitting the vehicle, the bus driver made a sharp right turn and struck the corner of the building, smashing through the structure.
The driver of the vehicle was issued a summons for making the illegal left turn, police said.
The four passengers were injured, along with one person inside the building, fire officials said. All five were taken to hospitals but are expected to be OK.
The bus was from Resorts World Casino but was being operated by a contractor. The casino didn't say where the bus was headed when it crashed.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by today's bus accident," Resorts World Casino New York City said in a statement Monday. "We are cooperating fully with the authorities in the investigation."
