Three people have been injured and transported to a hospital after a collision in the Upper Departure area of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, said the Port of Seattle. One of those was a four-year-old girl, who was in critical condition, according to Harborview Medical Center.
On Monday, a spokesperson for UW noted the girl had improved and was now in satisfactory condition.
At around 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 7, a vehicle collision occurred, injuring three people.
According to a spokesperson from the airport, the driver accidentally accelerated their vehicle and hit three people.
Officers with the Seattle Police Department and medics with the Seattle Fire Department were on the scene.
Travelers are asked to use the Lower Arrivals Drive for drop off, as the upper drive will be closed for an undetermined amount of time.
KIRO 7 talked to Dan Schulz, a witness at the scene.
“It was just like chaos,” he said.
Schulz said he came outside of door 26 by Alaska Airlines and was calling his sister-in-law who was picking him up when all of a sudden he heard a loud noise.
“All of a sudden I heard just this huge noise, it sounded like an explosion,” said Schulz. “I instantly turned around and saw the truck coming to a stop and a truck basically ran into the airport and it sounded almost like the person, I don’t know if this is the case but it sounded to me like the person stepped on the gas and drove into kind of a crowd, a crowded part of the airport.”
Schulz said as he was going to help the truck went in reverse and backed into another car.
“At that point, everyone just started yelling like stop, stop, stop! I thought oh did I just walk into like some kind of terrorist attack or something so I just turned around and my sister-in-law was also saying maybe you should get out of there,” said Schulz.
Schulz said as he ran to safety it looked like the truck had hit one of the metal luggage kiosks. Shulz also said he saw a man lying in the rubble but saw his head move, so he assumed the man was alive.
“I know at least one person injured that I saw and I saw a little girl, she was kind of sitting right in the middle of it and she was kind of sitting on her dad who was sitting on the ground in the middle of it trying to comfort her,” said Shulz. “That was very heartbreaking.”
Shulz said he was nearly hit but thankfully moved right before the truck hit.
“I was standing by where the dogs go out to pee and it looked like something out of the puppy bowl like just a fake grass and I was standing there and was like this really stinks, said Shulz. “I didn’t like dog pee or cigarette smell so that’s what saved me.”
A vehicle collision has occurred on the Upper Departures Drive. Port of Seattle Police and Fire are on scene. The Departures drive is currently closed. Please use the Lower Arrivals Drive for drop off. We will provide an update as we have more info. pic.twitter.com/IiMAuvVI4A
— Seattle-Tacoma Intl. Airport (@flySEA) May 17, 2023
©2023 Cox Media Group
