New York, Jul 7 (IANS): At least 18 people were injured following a collision between two buses in New York City, authorities said.

According to officials, the accident occurred at around 7 p.m. on Thursday evening in downtown Manhattan and the buses were in full capacity at the time of the collision, reports the BBC.

The collision occured between a city MTA bus and a tourist bus on a night-time tour operated by TopView Sightseeing.

Addressing the media on Thursday night, Deputy Chief of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Paul Hopper said that the TopView bus, which departs from near Times Square and takes in sights such as the Empire State Building and Brooklyn Bridge in a 90-minute journey, had two decks, which complicated rescue efforts.

He also said that it was too early to determine what caused the collision.

Ropes and ladders were used to rescue people and FDNY officials were "evaluating" 63 more people for possible injuries, the BBC quoted Hopper as saying.

The buses remained at the crash site near the intersection of 21st and 1st Avenue on Thursday night.