UPDATED: March 23, 2015 at 10:22 a.m.

A white Ford Explorer crashed into the top of the Mount Olympus stairwell early Monday morning, sending support beams into the road and a newspaper box into the fence.

The accident was reported at 2:27 a.m. and a loud screech followed by a crashing sound could be heard from the dorms, said Efrem Sharew, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences and a Flint Hall resident on the scene.

Shortly after the crash, a group of Syracuse University students gathered by the stairs to see if help was needed and to clear the road. A student who wished to remain unidentified on the scene said a female was seen exiting the vehicle with blood on her face and was pacing in the road until police arrived.

Around 2:40 a.m. Mount Olympus Drive was filled with a mix of emergency vehicles, student vehicles and at least one delivery driver trapped on the hill.

The female who was seen exiting the vehicle could be heard telling police that she was not the driver.

Shortly afterward the female was taken away in an ambulance. No others appeared to have been injured.

At 3:15 a.m., a tow truck had removed the vehicle and the road had been cleared.

A representative of the Syracuse Police Department said early Monday morning the Department of Public Safety would be handling the accident.

A DPS officer said Monday morning the student involved in the accident is lucky to be alive as they drove through four telephone poles, had their car go down the Mount steps and flung a newspaper dispenser about 25 feet.

In an email sent to Mount Olympus residents, Assistant Residence Director Robert Terreri said that as a result of the crash, the primary ​staircase from the Mount to main campus was severely damaged and will be unavailable for use for the foreseeable future pending reconstruction.

The Daily Orange will continue to update this article.

-Staff writer Sam Fortier and Asst. Feature Editor Jacob Gedetsis contributed reporting to this article.

Published on March 23, 2015 at 4:20 am

Contact Benjamin: brfarr@syr.edu