This is the hair-raising moment a shopper narrowly avoids being hit by a runaway bus full of schoolchildren.
Five people, including three children, were taken to hospital after the double-decker bus crashed into a shop on Selwyn Avenue in Highams Park on Tuesday morning.
CCTV footage from a cafe next to the crossing appears to show a lucky woman jumping out of the way of the 212 bus.
Eyewitnesses said a schoolboy about to cross on the other side of the bus jumped back to the safety of the pavement when he realised it wasn’t stopping.
They said the driver appeared to try to use the curb of a central reservation to slow the double-decker down and avoid other shoppers on the busy high street.
The bus finally came to a stop smashing into an end-of-terrace appliance shop at 8.20am, injuring 19 people mostly schoolchildren.
Their injuries are believed to be not life-threatening.
A 31-year-old mother who helped evacuate the bus told The Standard: “The bus was leaking we don’t know what kind of fluid so I tried to get them off as soon as possible.
“It was full of schoolchildren, some were really badly injured. One of them had fainted on the floor another fainted on the stairs.
“They were young kids and were really scared. Their parents weren’t there they were just on their way to school.
“I’m a mother so I just wanted to look after them the best I can.”
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said they are investigating what caused the crash.
