Bus firm ‘devastated’ at death

A bus company says it is devastated after one of its passengers was badly injured and later died in Auckland Hospital after falling down the double-decker’s stairwell.

It is understood Coreen Johns, 74, was going to hand a wallet she found to the Ritchies bus driver when she fell.

The Good Samaritan was farewelled yesterday in Orewa.

On Friday, Johns turned back down the staircase after noticing a lost wallet in a bid to hand it in to the driver.

It was then that the 74-year-old fell and lost consciousness, dying later that evening in Auckland Hospital.

A national contract manager for Ritchies, Matthew Todd, said the company felt devastated by what had happened. “Ritchies is devastated by the incident that occurred on one of our services on Friday, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the passenger involved in this terrible event,” Todd said.

A teacher, Kelly Clark, who was on the bus, previously told the Herald that she had heard a huge noise and had gone to help the woman.

“I heard a large bang so I went down to see what it was . . . I had a feeling it was someone who had fallen down the stairs,” she said.

“We hadn’t even really moved . . . we hadn’t moved out of the bus stop.”

Clark, alongside two other young women, put Johns into the recovery position.

They looked after her as best they could while they waited for the ambulance, she said.

A WorkSafe inquiry is under way.