A fun day designed to introduce new international college students to Seattle turned into a nightmare when a "duck boat" tour vehicle collided into their charter bus on a busy bridge, killing four students and injuring dozens.

Rujia Xie and other North Seattle College students were on their way to the city's iconic Pike Place Market and Safeco Field for new student orientation events Thursday when she heard the crash from the back of the bus.

She smelled gas and felt glass falling on her face. She and others jumped from the bus.

Traveling in the opposite direction, two Philadelphia friends on a road trip across the country, Brad Volm and Bradley Sawhill, were cruising over picturesque Lake Union when they said they saw the duck boat's left tire "lock up" as it swerved into the charter bus, t-boning it. Their SUV hit another truck head-on, but they escaped injuries.

"It all happened so fast. I got out of my car, and there were just bodies, just everywhere. People lying in the street," Volm said.

The amphibious vehicle is operated by a tour company called Ride the Ducks, which offers tours known for exuberant drivers and guides who play loud music and quack through speakers as they lead tourists around the city.

The collision on the Aurora Bridge, which carries one of the city's main north-south highways over the lake, left a tangled mess of twisted metal, shattered glass and blood, witnesses said.

Authorities say 51 people were taken to area hospitals. At Harborview Medical Center, two people are in critical condition and 10 are in serious condition in intensive care, said Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for Harborview and the University of Washington Medical Center, in a statement Thursday night. Three other people are in satisfactory condition, Gregg said.

At the University of Washington Medical Center, two people are in intensive care, Gregg said. Three people are being treated at the Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, she said.

A stretch of highway was closed for hours as traffic investigators looked into what happened. The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of 17 people to Seattle, and Mayor Ed Murray said they were taking over the investigation.

There was no immediate word about the cause of the crash, which involved a military-style tour bus that can also be operated on water. Initial reports described the accident as a head-on collision.

Three dozen people were on board the duck boat, as well as the driver, who is certified by the Coast Guard and a licensed commercial driver, company President Brian Tracey said. He said he did not know what happened or caused the crash.

"We will get to the bottom of it," he told The Associated Press. "Our main concern right now is with the families of those hurt and killed."

Murray said the company had voluntarily taken the duck boats off city streets for the time being. (bbn) (++++)

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