A quiet Saturday morning in Washington, D.C. turned chaotic in seconds after a city bus suddenly plowed straight into a popular restaurant — leaving a trail of damage and stunned witnesses.
The crash happened around 7:13 a.m. on April 4 at the intersection of 7th and Q streets NW in the Shaw neighborhood. When emergency crews arrived, they found a Metrobus lodged deep inside Ambar Restaurant, with an SUV badly damaged nearby in the street.
According to officials, the bus had been struck by the SUV at the intersection — triggering a chain reaction that caused the driver to lose control and slam into the building.
Despite the dramatic scene, it could have been far worse.
The restaurant was empty at the time of the crash, likely preventing serious injuries or fatalities. Still, three women — the bus driver, a passenger on board, and the SUV driver — were taken to the hospital with injuries. A fourth person was evaluated at the scene.
Photos from first responders showed the bus pushed well inside the restaurant’s structure, with debris scattered across the intersection.
Fire crews worked for hours to stabilize the scene, even breaking up sections of concrete to safely remove the bus from the building. In total, it took about five hours before the wreckage was cleared.
Officials said the building suffered heavy damage, but fortunately did not show any major structural instability after the bus was pulled out.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department.
And in a strange twist, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened at the exact same spot.
A fire department spokesperson revealed that a bus crashed into the very same building back in the mid-1980s — when the structure looked very different.
As for whether the intersection itself is to blame?
“I would go with serendipity,” the official said.
For now, the popular Balkan restaurant — one of several Ambar locations in the D.C. area — remains closed as crews assess the damage and begin cleanup.
