Bus careers into house killing pedestrian

The number 205 single-decker bus, which runs from Dudley to Blackheath in the West Midlands, left the road and hit a 40-year-old man walking on the pavement at about 9am.

Ambulance crews tried to revive the man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fire crews had to battle a fire caused by the crash and a burst gas pipe.

Witnesses described seeing the bus swerve to avoid an oncoming car, before hitting a lamppost and ramming into the front of the house.

A local businessman, who did not wish to be named, said the car was driving near the middle of the road to avoid cars parked on either side of the narrow residential street.

The driver of the bus, believed to be in his 50s, was taken to Russells Hall Hospital with minor injuries.

There was one passenger on the bus at the time who left the scene without being treated.

Bunns Lane, a residential street, was cordoned off as emergency crews tackled the wreckage of the single-decker bus.

A fire broke out as the bus ruptured a gas pipe when it hit the house. Fire crews were this afternoon still battling with specialist equipment to free the embedded bus from the wreckage of the house.

Archie Wheldon, from West Midlands Fire Service, said: "The front of the properties were engulfed in flames, and both houses are very severely damaged.

"We are looking to re-house at least four families."

One of the council-owned houses affected by the crash was inhabited by a couple in their 70s called Ray and Winifred Coley.

Their son-in-law Andy Hickman described the scene as "unbelievable".

He said: "My mother-in-law was in the living room and my father-in-law was in the kitchen when the bus crashed into the house.

"They are both very frightened at the moment. Winnie thought she was going to die.

"People around here have been campaigning to slow the buses down because they really whizz down this hill."

West Midlands Ambulance spokesperson Murray Macgregor said the service received 10 calls about the accident just after 9am this morning.

He said: "It seems like a single decker bus going down Bunns Lane has been in collision with a male pedestrian, who has been confirmed dead.

"The bus also hit a lamp post and a silver car before veering off across a front garden and into a house.

"It is believed the impact with the house ruptured the gas supply and a fire broke out, with crews called to the scene to deal with it.

"The collision has caused quite a bit of damage both to the bus and the house."

Five hours on from the crash, the emergency services began the delicate task of removing the bus from the properties.

Construction experts will be brought in to shore up the building so the bus can be taken away for examination by accident investigators.

West Midlands Travel spokesman Phil Bateman said WMT were cooperating with West Midlands Police and had also launched a separate internal investigation to find out what had happened.