Photo by Chris Rief

Initial reports of a Metrobus incident this morning were more frightening than what actually transpired, but a bus stopping suddenly to avoid hitting another vehicle was still rattling enough to send 13 passengers to the hospital for observation, a spokesman for D.C. Fire and EMS said.

A bus traveling on Metro’s Route 92 was approaching the intersection of Eighth and D streets SE near Eastern Market about 9:30 a.m. when the driver slammed on the brakes before it struck a car that had pulled in front, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel told DCist.

There was no contact made, but the halt was violent enough to shake up a number of the passengers traveling toward 14th and U streets NW.

The incident looked worse than it actually was, no doubt thanks in part to some of the terminology used by fire officials:

*U/D – 400 8th St SE – accident involving #wmata Metro bus, 3 ambulances transp mult pts, 7 transp by mass casualty bus #dcfd #dctraffic

— IAFF Local 36 (@IAFF36) May 11, 2012

In fact, none of the injuries reported are thought to be serious, the FEMS spokesman said. Six passengers were transported to nearby hospitals in regular ambulances; the other seven by an ambulance bus. The FEMS spokesman said any mention of the term “walking wounded” is unofficial jargon, and refers only to people who might have taken a bump or bruise in the bus’ screeching halt but walked away from the scene before being checked out. “We’re checking for precautionary reasons only,” the spokesman said.

Authorities closed Eighth Street between D and E streets, while adjacent Pennsylvania Avenue remained open to traffic.