NEW YORK Eighteen people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries after a double-decker tour bus collided with a New York City commuter bus on Thursday evening in Manhattan, according to the city's fire department.

The front windows of a double-decker TopView tour bus were shattered in the collision with the rear of a bus operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which took place around 7 p.m. (2300 GMT) at First Avenue and 23rd Street on the east side of Manhattan.

Both buses were crowded, according to New York Fire Department officials who briefed reporters, and another 63 people were evaluated by medical staff at the scene.

Most of the injuries were cuts, scrapes and bruises, fire department officials said, though some people were treated for suspected fractured bones and head and neck injuries.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; additional reporting by Dan Trotta; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)