Shoved in front of a bus by brazen jogger
Woman survives after quick-thinking driver swerves
Hunt: The mystery runner THIS was the horrifying scene as a woman came within inches of death when a jogger shoved her into the path of a London bus.
The 33-year-old was on her way to work last May when the man barged her aside, sending her sprawling headfirst into the road as a passing double-decker bus headed towards her.
The driver, travelling at about 20kmh, swerved at the last second – narrowly missing the victim’s head as she lay inches from the bus’s wheels.
Yesterday as British police launched an appeal to trace the attacker, whom the woman had never seen, detectives were flooded with calls complaining about so-called ‘jogger rage’ in the city. Scotland Yard said that the heart-stopping footage had provoked an extraordinary response, prompting a series of calls from the public reporting similar incidents. The woman, who does not want to be named, escaped without serious injury. Her attacker brazenly ran past her on the same bridge 15 minutes after the incident, without saying a word.
Stunned, she called out and tried to stop him. But the runner ignored her and sprinted off without a backward glance.
Yesterday Sergeant Mat Knowles said that the victim had been traumatised by the attack at 7.40am on Putney Bridge in West London on Friday May 5. He said: ‘At this point she is the only person on the pavement. The footpath is eight to ten feet wide – there is plenty of room. This is a deliberate act on his behalf. His hands come across and push her. She walks this way to the Tube to go to work every day and has never seen him. ‘If it wasn’t for the quick reactions of the bus driver it could have been a very different situation. It was a very near miss. ‘When you look at how close it was, this footage is quite harrowing. She obviously doesn’t know what the motivation was. It has had a real impact on her life.’ The jogger was last seen sprinting towards Fulham. Officers are trying to establish if the attack is linked to other incidents.