Passenger dies after jumping off bus into icy burn

A MAN has died after plunging into a near-freezing burn when he stepped off a bus feeling ill.

The 59-year-old jumped off a Stagecoach number 16 bus between Errol and Grange, Perthshire, on Friday night.

But it is thought he then fell over a wall by the side of the road and plunged about 15ft into the Pow Burn.

His 34-year-old travelling companion jumped in after him, with others, in a bid to save him as he lay face down in the water.

Two ambulances attended the scene and the man was escorted by police to Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital around 8.15pm but was pronounced dead shortly after.

Simon Simpson, 43, of Grange, told how he was returning home from the cinema when he spotted the accident.

He said he found the road blocked by two buses parked nose to nose with hazard lights flashing.

He added: ‘Although there is a street light, it was still dark but you could make out there was someone down in the water.

‘Four of us cut through the garden of the cottage at the side of

‘Lying face down in the water’

the burn and went down below the bridge.

‘There was one man standing in the water, and using the light from our phones we could see there was another man lying face down in the water.

‘Myself and another local waded into the water and got a hold of him. Then we realised there was a high bank behind us and we couldn’t possibly carry him up there.

‘The two of us had to carry him for about 25 yards upstream before we could get him onto the bank.

‘The guy I was with gave him CPR on the bank until the police arrived and took over.’

It is understood the two men, believed to be from Montrose, boarded the wrong bus in Dundee.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘A 59-year-old casualty was taken to Ninewells hospital, Dundee, but sadly was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.’

A spokesman for Stagecoach said: ‘We are assisting police with their inquiries into an incident near Errol on Friday.’

Errol Community Council chairman Elizabeth Bright said: ‘It’s shocking news and a terrible time of year for something like this to happen. It’s very sad.’