How did nobody die? Eight injured as bus roof ripped off after it hit walkway
EIGHT people were injured yesterday when a double-decker bus crashed into an overhead walkway that sliced off most of its roof.
The accident happened at Edinburgh’s Western General hospital.
The father of one teenager who was on the bus said his daughter was left in shock. The 14-year-old was with a friend when the accident happened around 3.30pm.
Her father, Edinburgh plumber Michael Heron, 37, said: ‘She was at the front on the top deck so she is incredibly lucky to have not been seriously injured. I got a phone call about 20 minutes after she left saying the roof of the bus had been taken off.
‘She was really shaken up and in tears. I went to the Western General, as that’s right next to where the accident happened, and she had been taken in there. Lots of people were getting seen to.
‘The nurses checked her and her friend over – her friend had cuts and both were covered in glass.’
The Lothian Country Bus is understood to have taken a wrong turning off Crewe Road South on its way to the hospital.
It struck an overhead walkway separating the hospital’s cancer centre and the Macmillan day treatment centre.
The bridge is marked ‘headroom: 12’0’ at almost exactly the point of contact. Almost the entire roof of the bus was torn off and wreckage and glass were left strewn across the road.
Police and ambulance services were soon on the scene, along with fire appliances.
Mr Heron added: ‘When I got there, I just couldn’t believe it. It’s amazing they were able to walk away, considering where they were sitting.
‘I’m aware it’s an accident – the driver’s not meant it – but it’s a 12ft bridge and there is clearly a sign saying that. Any professional driver should know how high their bus is.’
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said eight people were treated by paramedics but their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.