TWO HURT IN CITY BUS HORROR
Eyewitnesses tell of ‘hysteria’ as victims said to be ‘critical’
A MAN and woman were being being treated for serious injuries in hospital after being struck by a bus on a busy shopping street in Glasgow city centre.
A section of Queen Street and Argyle Street was cordoned off by the emergency services after the two people had to be released by fire crews from under the bus just after 2.35pm.
Hospital staff described their condition as ‘critical’.
The bus driver was uninjured but extremely shaken as a result of the incident.
Police, ambulance crews and a number of fire engines attended the scene as shocked passers-by looked on.
Both casualties, believed to be in their seventies, were taken to Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary shortly after 3.10pm after being loaded into an ambulance by emergency services.
Eyewitnesses described “horrific” and “hysterical” scenes in the aftermath. The road was closed off and an investigation got underway at the scene of the incident.
Eyewitness Jan Watson said: “We were coming out from Primark and we saw the bus coming along and going round the corner.
“It just stopped dead. We approached the crossing and people were coming round and we just followed the people. We saw a woman trapped underneath the wheel.”
Jordan Macrae, 18, said: “It was horrible. There was screaming. Everyone was on their phone trying to call the emergency services.”
“Everyone was crowding round, trying to see if they could help. The peo- ple that went and helped were really good.”
A police collision investigation unit arrived on the scene shortly after the ambulance had left the scene.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We received a report about 2.30pm that two people had been struck by a bus at the corner of Queen Street and Argyle Street in Glasgow.
“Emergency services were immediately sent to the scene and the road was closed immediately.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said it had up to 25 firefighters on the scene.
A spokesman said: “Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews attended an incident in Queen Street in Glasgow city centre following a call from ambulance control around 2.35pm.
“Four appliances from Calton and Cowcaddens community fire stations attended the incident along with a heavy rescue vehicle from Easterhouse.
“The firefighters, who were working closely with paramedics and doctors, used airbags to release two people from beneath a bus.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said they had “a number of ambulance crews” on the location as well as a special operations team and a trauma team.
At the scene, the front half of one bus was cordoned off from public view with a large green fabric screen.
A spokeswoman for bus operator First Glasgow said: “We can confirm an incident occurred this afternoon involving a First Glasgow service and two pedestrians.
“We are doing everything we can to support the emergency services and a full investigation to establish exactly what happened is under way.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Twitter: “Very concerned to hear about the bus accident in Glasgow city centre. My thoughts are with those involved.”
Police have appealed for witnesses.