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Bus on diversion from blaze site hits bridge
Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent11 Feb 2008
A man was fighting for life today after suffering serious head injuries when the top deck of a bus was ripped off as it ploughed into a railway bridge.
At least five other passengers on the double decker were treated in hospital and up to 15 others were hurt or suffered shock in the terrifying rush hour incident in Kentish Town.
The route 24 Pimlico to Hampstead Heath bus had been diverted via Prince of Wales Road due to road closures caused by the weekend fire which destroyed part of Camden Lock market.
The 30-year-old passenger was taken to the Royal Free Hospital with severe head injuries. Five others were being treated there for minor injuries.
A 40-year-old female witness, who did not want to be named, told the Standard: "The bus went under the bridge and we heard this terrible crunching sound.
" We lurched to a stop, everyone was flying everywhere. It was very, very scary.
"I was on the lower deck and when I got outside I could see the whole top of the roof had been ripped back. It looked a bit like the bus in the London 7/7 bombing."
Stonemason Del Knibbs, 47, was one of the first people to help the injured. He said: "I ran on board with two other men and we went up the stairs. We had to crawl to get anywhere.
"The first guy we came to we thought was dead. He was lifeless and had been sitting at the front of the bus, he would have taken the full force of the roof.
"We put a coat over his head and crawled forward to try and find any survivors. There were a number of woman on board and we got them off first,
"We went back on board to move the man we thought was dead and he started to moan. We moved him to the side of the road. He had a very serious head wound and his hands were cut to shreds."
Transport forLondonhaslaunchedan inquiry. Drivers facethreedaysof delays after the fire closed off major roads.
