A brave mother and daughter have recounted how they were the “first people out” to aid those injured in a horrific double-decker bus crash. Three people are currently receiving treatment for severe injuries following an incident where a Bee Network bus collided with a low bridge on Barton Lane in Eccles, Greater Manchester, on Monday. The top of the 100 bus was not following its usual route when it collided with the Bridgewater Canal aqueduct, shearing off the roof.
The anonymous mother-daughter duo described the sight of victims scattered along the road after being thrown from the bus. They told Manchester Evening News: “We were at home in the front bedroom, and my daughter looked out the window and saw what had happened. The bus had stopped at the top; the roof was on the other side of the bridge.
“It looked like something out of a film. We ran down, all the neighbours were coming out to help and we were shouting for help.
“The first thing we saw when we walked out was this woman in the road on the floor and you knew she’d fallen off the back. It was horrible. I ran down to the casualty and put her in the recovery position.”
They continued: “The noise went on for a while. It’s grinding and glass smashing and people screaming. People on the bus were distraught. Everyone was helping each other.
“It was shortly after 3pm – it was a busy time, the 100 is a busy bus and people were coming home from work and there was a schoolboy on there too which was heartbreaking.
“We went to the nearby pub to buy cans of coke and sugary drinks for people in shock. We had baths cause we had blood on us too.”
The bus driver, a man in his 50s, has now been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by careless driving and has since been bailed pending further investigations.
A 19-year-old female and two men, one in his 20s and another in his 40s, were seriously injured and remained in the hospital in a stable condition.
Seventeen other casualties were also treated at the scene for injuries described as non-life threatening or life-changing.
The road has since been reopened, and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said it has launched an “immediate and urgent” investigation into the circumstances of the crash, including why the bus not on the correct route.
