Woman estate agent, 23, killed by falling branch as bus crashes into tree near Tower Bridge

A young woman was killed yesterday when a massive tree fell on to a bus in a freak accident.

Emily Diamond, 23, was walking just behind the bus as the tree smashed into the front windows of the bus.

She was crushed by falling branches and died on the roadside near Tower Bridge, in Central London.

Just moments before, Miss Diamond had left the office where she worked as an estate agent, to inspect nearby flats let by her company.

Witnesses described how the plane tree fell on to the Number 188 bus as it made its way towards North Greenwich, causing it to swerve wildly.

The tree was then wrenched from the ground and collapsed on Miss Diamond.

The first rescuers on the scene did not realise Miss Diamond had been hit and concentrated on treating 18 injured passengers.

It was a few minutes before emergency workers realised Miss Diamond had been crushed.

She could not be saved and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver, said to be in his 40s, collapsed in shock after leaving the bus and passed out briefly.

Tributes: Colleagues from Emily Diamond's work place give police officers flowers to place at the scene of the fatal accident

Builder Tom Riley, 32, who was working nearby, said: 'There was a beautiful-looking girl lying by the trunk of the tree. We did not even realise she was there at first as everyone was concentrating on getting people off the bus.

'She had blood coming out of the back of her head. I knew she was dead straight away. She was lying motionless on her back by the tree.'

Salah Arif, 32, a part-time librarian who was driving towards the bus at the time, said: 'Suddenly I saw the bus swerving all over the road and the bus driver was trying to stop it.

'After it came to a halt everyone on the bus was panicking and angry passengers were coming to the front. I asked the bus driver where the first aid kit was but he was too shocked to tell me.'

Accident: The bus is towed away from the scene near Tower Bridge in London

A number of witnesses said they heard a loud bang and saw passengers run from the bus, fearing it was a bomb attack.

Adetola Bakare, 21, and his fiancée Kofoworola Williams, 29, who is 31 weeks pregnant, were sitting on the bottom deck. 'We were sitting on the back row and suddenly felt something smash into us,' said Miss Williams, of Stockwell, South London.

'Everyone jolted forward and there were screams of pain throughout the bus. I looked up and there was blood pouring from people's noses, mouths and some had cut legs.

'I was crying as my front hit the seat in front hard and I thought my baby was injured.'

Ms Diamond was killed and another 19 injured in the accident

Glass windows on the bus's top deck were totally smashed and there were shards of glass and metal scattered about. The worst injured passengers are believed to have been at the front upstairs.

Six ambulances and paramedic teams treated passengers. Of nine taken to hospital, four suffered serious spinal and head injuries.

Miss Diamond, a film and television studies graduate, lived with her family in Abbey Wood, South-East London, and worked at the Sunlight Projects letting company.

The glass on the bus's top deck was totally smashed

Her grandmother, Irene Farrington, who lives in Thamesmead, south London, said: 'The whole family is devastated. Emily was such a generous, bubbly girl who was also very caring.'

Nigel Clarke, a traffic sergeant with the Metropolitan Police, said that the stability of the tree was a 'strong line of inquiry'.

'A horticultural expert for Transport for London is investigating the health of the tree,' he said.

One suggestion was that the tree's roots might have been loosened by flooding in the area. Others said that recent roadworks may have 'shaken' the road.

The tree branch ripped through the bus, tearing the metal

Witnesses said that injured passengers were lying on the road