PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A trolley hit an SUV and then slammed into a historic house in Southwest Philadelphia Thursday night — the fifth SEPTA crash involving a bus or trolley in the last week.
It happened at Island and Woodland avenues around 10:30 p.m. An out-of-service trolley that was undergoing maintenance work at a nearby depot somehow made its way to the intersection, hit an SUV, and crashed into the stone home, SEPTA officials said.
“It’s a historic property,” Delia King, the caretaker of the property, told NBC10. “It’s been here since the colonial era, and a SEPTA trolley just went through my living room.
“I was upstairs in bed with my cat and I felt something collide with the house, and the whole house shook. And then all this dust came down and I just got out of there as soon as I could.”
The house was built in 1766 and was known as the Blue Bell Inn and the Blue Bell Tavern. George Washington stopped by frequently, according to the Darby Creek Valley Association.
King was not hurt, but three others — the mechanic who was on the trolley and two people in the SUV — were injured.
This was the fifth crash involving a SEPTA bus or trolley since July 21. That’s when a SEPTA bus rear-ended another on Roosevelt Boulevard, injuring more than a dozen and killing a 72-year-old woman.
In the days that followed, a bus hit a pole in Philadelphia, and a trolley rear-ended another one in Upper Darby. There were injuries in both incidents.
A SEPTA bus also crashed into a Center City storefront Tuesday night.
After the fourth crash, SEPTA said there was no connection between the incidents. The agency also said it is sending safety officials and supervisors to all the depots to go over safety protocols with operators and other employees.
All of the crashes are under investigation.
Related
NBC10 is a broadcast partner of KYW Newsradio.