6 people injured when shuttle van plows into pedestrians on sidewalk in Seattle

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- A shuttle van jumped a sidewalk and crashed into a building in downtown Seattle on the U.S. west coast and wounded six people, including the van driver himself Thursday afternoon, a local TV report said.

Five people were rushed to Harborview Medical Center, a disaster control hospital for Seattle in Washington state.

One person was in critical condition while the other four were in serious condition.

No information was available about the sixth patient injured in the accident.

"Southbound lanes on 5th Ave from Olive Way to Pike St is blocked due to collision. Westbound on 5th Ave & Pine St also blocked," the Seattle Department of Transportation tweeted.

Police have called the incident "not terrorism related" and treated it as a traffic accident.

The Seattle Police Department (Seattle PD) tweeted that "Traffic Collision detectives will be conducting the investigation of the van into the building."

The busy intersection of Fifth Avenue and Pine Street where the crash occurred has been closed to traffic.

This intersection is expected "to remain closed for a while during investigation," Seattle PD said.

The driver was said to have suffered some type of medical episode, which caused the van to jump the sidewalk and hit the building. Enditem