Four injured after roof is ripped off London bus
Emergency services at the scene after number 91 bus hits tree in Kingsway, Holborn
By Leon Watson, and Camilla Turner
4:20PM GMT 02 Feb 2015
Five people have been injured after a double-decker bus had its roof ripped off on a busy shopping street in central London on Monday.
Scotland Yard and Transport for London have both launched investigations into the "freak incident", which saw the roof of the bus being wrenched off and left "hanging by a thread" at around 1pm.
Immediately, pictures of the scene in Kingsway were posted on Twitter. The bus was a number 91, which runs between Crouch End and Trafalgar Square.
(Gabriel Gavin)
At the scene, London Fire Brigade (LFB) station manager Gary Squires said: "Those involved are very lucky to have escaped serious injury. This is a very unusual incident. It is a freak accident."
Mr Squires said a man sitting on the top deck was left with a suspected broken nose while another passenger was taken to hospital with injuries to the side of their head. Two of the five people to be injured were taken to hospital.
A LFB spokesman explained: "You can see that the tree has a big chunk of bark missing. It looks as if the bus struck the tree and the roof has stayed embedded in the tree, while the bus carried on going.
“The roof was still attached to the top of the bus by cables and the weight of roof. If the bus driver hadn’t stopped, the roof would have been dragged down the road behind.”
The Fire Rescue Crew evacuated the area before attaching a strap around the roof of the bus, and using a winch to lower it down to ground level where they could cut the remaining cables.
The area was cordoned off and ten bus routes were put on diversion while emergency services attended the scene.
Witness Alex Beattie said: "Saw it happen. Hit a tree and roof peeled right off. Everyone seemed ok. Police car next to it when it happened."
London School of Economics student Ethan Meade, who also saw the crash, said: "I saw the roof fall down off the side of the bus, and the glass shatter everywhere. The passengers seemed to be sitting there pretty stunned as you'd expect. Police seemed to handle it very well."
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We are investigating the incident. Enquiries are under way to ascertain the circumstances of the collision."
@GabrielCSGavin/PA
A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “We were called at 1.03pm to reports of a road traffic collision involving a bus and a tree on Kingsway.
“We treated two patients for facial injuries; they were taken to St Thomas’ Hospital. We treated two other patients for minor injuries; they were not taken to hospital. We treated another patient for a knee injury; this patient was discharged at the scene.”
Ken Davidson, TfL’s Head of Bus Operations, said: “At around 1pm today (2 February) a route 91 bus, operated by Metroline, collided with a tree on Kingsway at the junction with Portugal Street (WC2).
"Emergency services attended the scene and there will be a full investigation into this incident.”
TfL said that the number 91 bus and its roof had been removed, the road closures had ended and all buses were running as normal by around 4pm on Monday.
