Photo credit: chron.com

Six people were seriously injured after a shuttle van plowed down a busy sidewalk Thursday in the heart of Seattle's downtown retail district and crashed into the front of the Gap store.

The accident happened at Fifth Avenue and Pine Street after which officers and medics responded to the scene upon receiving several reports of pedestrians who had been struck.

Reports released by witnesses said the Shuttle Express van was heading south on 5th Avenue when it jumped the curb and struck several people who were walking along the sidewalk there.

"He literally jumped the curb and smacked them," one witness, Amani Wright said. "It was horrible."

He said one of those hit had a child with him.

Marc Garth-Green who is the Assistant Seattle Police Chief said the van driver suffered some kind of medical emergency and lost consciousness before the crash. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center and was reported to be in serious condition.

Five pedestrians are reported to have been injured on the sidewalk and taken to the hospital. Four victims were hit by the van and one was injured by flying glass from the store window as it was struck and shattered. The victim hit by flying glass was taken to another hospital with minor injuries. Four other victims were attended in Harborview Medical Center in Seattle include a man in his 30s, who is in critical condition and is undergoing surgery.

The patients at Harborview included a 52-year-old man, 28-year-old woman and 39-year-old woman all whom are in satisfactory condition. There’s, however, one passenger who was aboard the shuttle van but did not sustain injuries. The Police in Seattle has confirmed that the incident was not intentional nor was it terrorism-related.

The incident caused southbound lanes on 5th Avenue from Olive Way to Pike Street to be blocked Thursday afternoon and have since reopened for normal operation.

Source: http://katu.com/news/local/van-crashes-into-downtown-seattle-building-possible-injuries