BALTIMORE — Sixteen people, including four juveniles in a car reported stolen, were hospitalized after the car crashed into a Maryland Transit Administration bus while officers followed it Thursday afternoon in East Baltimore, police said.

Two occupants of the car and some other patients were in critical condition. The bus driver was awake and speaking when taken to a hospital.

Police said officers responded about 12:48 p.m. to an alert for a stolen car. They found the car and attempted to stop it, but the driver fled. Officers called in the police helicopter and followed the car and saw it crash into the bus.

Baltimore Police, firefighters and MTA crews responded to the 1500 block of North Wolfe Street in the city’s Broadway East neighborhood.

Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the department’s special investigation response team is investigating the incident.

At the scene, a young woman held a little girl as the child was transported in an ambulance. The bus had come to rest in a grassy area off the roadway. The front of a red Hyundai was crushed, and its windshield was shattered.

At a news conference, Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace said he declared the crash a mass-casualty event shortly after crews arrived.

“Upon the arrival of our first arriving apparatus, they observed multiple patients, both inside of the vehicle as well as those that had already exited an MTA Bus,” Wallace said.

City officials closed East Oliver and North Wolfe streets and advised motorists to avoid the area.

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