The Salvation Army took another unwanted hit late on Tuesday night, when a driverless bus crashed through the front window of its new thrift store in New Westminster and smashed into the men's clothing section.

The driver had just stepped off the Coast Mountain Bus at the top of a hill just after 11 pm last night.

The bus was parked on Columbia, near 8th Street when the accident happened. There were no passengers on the runaway bus, the building was empty at the time of the crash, and no one on the street was injured.

Damage to the store is estimated to be upwards of $100,000.

Derek Zabel of the Coast Mountain Bus Company said the driver chased after the bus as it rolled downhill, shouting at people to get out of the way. Zabel said it was very lucky no one was hit, but added the cause of the accident had no yet been determined.

"Right now it's under investigation and we're not ruling out anything -- we will check everything," he said.

"It suddenly started moving, and moving and speeding,..the bus just missed a car -- the car just escaped," said witness Jarmila Storkova

When asked about the safety of their bus fleet, Zabel wanted to assure the public.

"Coast Mountain Bus Company -- our priority number one is safety. When an incident such as this happens, it's a serious incident. [The] company investigates it right away."

"About 11:15 last night our staff arrived because an alarm went and found a bus parked in the middle of our store," said Salvation Army spokesman Major Brian Venables.

The accident came less than a week after the loss of $25,000 worth of toys and food for needy teens in a brazen theft.

Some of the merchandise has since been recovered, and an outpouring of public support and donations from local companies have attempted to make up the difference and replace the toys,

Venables said "it's been a challenging week," but added that the store opened as usual on Wednesday morning.

It's not known yet who will be picking up the tab for the accident.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson