An MBTA station in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was closed Saturday after a car crashed into the top floor of the parking garage, sending a concrete barrier and debris onto the station below and leaving a vehicle dangling from above the facility. Two people were hospitalized following the incident, officials said.
The Cambridge Fire Department said a person was injured on the top level of Alewife Station's parking garage. Firefighters say when they arrived at the station around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, they found the driver unconscious behind the wheel. He was taken to a local hospital and his condition is not known at this time.
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According to MBTA Transit Police, the motorist's actions on the 5th level of the parking garage were "intentional." Further information is not being released at this time, police added.
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The fire chief said a child was also taken to an area hospital after she was hit by glass falling into the station.
A vehicle was seen in photos shared by the fire department hanging over the edge of the parking structure above the station's distinctive glass atrium.
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The car knocked off a piece of concrete estimated around 10,000 pounds, along with the steel guard rails, which collapsed into the atrium down below, but it didn't fall all the way to the first floor. The fire chief said the piece of the concrete barrier that fell is somehow being held up by the steel atrium.
Damage was visible inside the atrium as well. Photos shared by the fire department showed panes of glass broken on the floor inside. It was not immediately clear where the girl was when she was struck by glass, but acting chief Tom Cahill said things could have been worse during a busy weekday commute.
"I think we're fortunate it was a Saturday morning," Cahill said. "If this was a Monday morning, the circumstances would've been a lot different. The particular construction used to support the glass in that atrium, the size of the steel they used, is really what kept that 10,000 pounds from making it all the way into the atrium."
The MBTA announced the station's closure through social media and said shuttle buses were replacing Red Line service between Davis and Alewife. The agency also said structural engineers were responding to inspect the infrastructure and later said that shuttle buses would continue to replace service indefinitely as crews asses the damage and work to safely reopen the station.
The Cambridge Fire Department confirmed the station would remain closed pending a structural and safety evaluation, while police said the MBTA facility would remain closed with service between Alewife/Davis suspended.
The transit agency also said the parking garage is closed to incoming vehicles, however anyone with a vehicle currently in the garage will be allowed to retrieve it.
The closure comes as Massachusetts sees bitter cold this weekend after arctic air swept into the region on Friday, dropping temperatures below zero for millions.
Alewife Station is one terminus of the MBTA's Red Line train. City and charter buses also stop at the facility.
