Male London bus drivers aged 20 to 65 were more than three times more likely to die from coronavirus during the peak of the pandemic than men in other occupations across England and Wales, according to a report.
Here are tributes to five bus drivers who have died during the pandemic, four of whom died on consecutive days.
Kenneth Yeboah, 55
A bus driver for Tower Transit, Yeboah died from Covid-19 on 1 April – his 55th birthday. His widow, Charlotte, said her husband had been “lively and bubbly” on stage while leading a church service a couple of days before he fell ill. When he was taken into Newham hospital in east London he was not suffering any major underlying health issues other than high blood pressure, she said.
Yeboah was also a deacon in his local church in Dagenham. Pastor Micheal De-heer said Yeboah had been a stalwart in the congregation for more than 20 years, and helped out at a local food bank. “Nobody could doubt the man. He was a kind, friendly person who would speak to everyone,” he said.
Nadir Nur, 48
Nur, who drove a No 394 bus in Hackney, north-east London, died in hospital on 2 April. He is survived by his wife and five children, including a 10-month-old daughter, Sahra.
His wife, Bishara, described her husband as a “hero on the frontline helping healthcare workers to hospitals”. She said he was a “loving, kind, caring, helpful person who everybody loved” and said bus drivers needed further protection to prevent any more deaths among transport staff during the pandemic.
Rodolfo Silva
A bus driver for Go-Ahead Group, Silva died on 3 April. A company spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with Mr Silva’s family and friends at this very difficult time. Mr Silva was a dedicated and popular member of our Waterside Way [in Wimbledon] team.”
Emeka Nyack Ihenacho, 36
Ihenacho, who died on 4 April, worked for Metroline and drove his bus through the streets of Islington, north London. His mother, Anne, said she had begged him not to go to work a few days before he fell ill. She said: “He made friends very easily, he would talk to anybody. He always enjoyed spending time with myself and his sister, and we would watch movies and Love Island. He was a wicked joker. He had a nickname for everybody he met.” He left behind a seven-year-old son.
Ranjith Chandrapala, 64
Chandrapala, who lived in Hanwell, west London, died on 3 May after driving the No 92 bus on the Ealing hospital route since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis. He had been a bus driver for 12 years, and had lived in Ealing since moving from Sri Lanka in 1972.
His daughter, Leshi Chandrapala, said: “Dad knew how to live, how to enjoy simple pleasures. He was always up for anything, always open-hearted and childlike. His joy and goodness touched everyone. He would write poetry and little philosophical pieces all the time. That was his heart, so pure, so connected to the universe and the nature of things.”
She backed calls for greater protection for transport workers when her father’s death was raised in parliament. “He and his colleagues were a band of brothers and they have been working in unsafe conditions,” she said. “We bought him a mask. We did what we could for him.”
