Fifteen passengers on a bus that ploughed into the Montague Street rail bridge in South Melbourne escaped serious injury because “they all ducked their heads and closed their eyes,” Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Andrew O’Connell has said.
The coach struck the bridge, which is marked “low clearance – 3.0 metres”, about 10.25am. The impact caused the roof to peel back, trapping a number of people inside.
Most on board were able to climb out, but four people were “extensively trapped”. It took a team of 35 firefighters, including three specialised rescue crews, to retrieve them. The last of the passengers was freed from the bus about 11.30am.
#BREAKING 3AW has this pic of the South Melbourne bus crash. pic.twitter.com/qbSJGf5qxJ
— The Age (@theage) February 21, 2016
A spokeswoman from Ambulance Victoria said 11 people had been taken to various Melbourne hospitals, eight of whom were in a stable condition. The condition of the remaining two, who were among those trapped for more than half an hour on the bus, was not known.
The driver, who was among those taken to hospital, was pictured on news reports soon after the crash with his head in his hands.
O’Connell said the triple-zero call sounded “very nasty” but most of the passengers were “remarkably uninjured”.
“I think it’s a bit of good fortune, but also the height of the rail bridge has been just above their head height, which has significantly contributed to a good outcome,” he told reporters at the scene.
“It would’ve been absolutely terrifying for the passengers inside the bus when the roof has being destroyed. Luckily... they all ducked their heads and closed their eyes to keep themselves out of trouble. That’s helped to keep them remarkably uninjured.”
He said it was not the first time the bridge’s low clearance had caused an issue, saying “this bridge does have a few people run into it on occasion.”
Four people remain trapped after a bus slammed into the Montague Street bridge. Several are reported injured #9News pic.twitter.com/C5x3xhKuJ2
— Jo Hall (@Jo_Hall9) February 22, 2016
Inspector Jo Dolan, from Victoria Police, said police were still reviewing the scene and did not know how fast the bus was going or why the driver did not heed the low clearance sign.
“Police will be speaking to him, but it’s only early stages in the investigation,” Dolan said.
“We don’t know what caused it. We know the bridge caused it but obviously there was some driver error. I think that as [O’Connell] mentioned, there’s been a lot of issues with this bridge. It’s probably a funding issue to raise it. It’s got signs and lights. I don’t really know what more you can do.”
Dolan said the crash was “unique”.
“We’re just lucky that no one was seriously injured.”
15 people removed, 4 still trapped after horrific bus crash in south Melbourne @abcnewsmelb pic.twitter.com/WMcCvPuQIS
— Margaret Paul (@margaretpaul) February 22, 2016
It’s understood the bus, operated by Gold Bus Ballarat, was on its way to a conference.
In a statement, Gold Bus Ballarat director Matthew Baird said they were cooperating with emergency services.
“Our first priority is the welfare of passengers and our driver, and assisting emergency services where we can,” Baird said.
Shocking scenes from #Melbourne as firefighters work to free busload of trapped passengers https://t.co/gHASs3NMl2 pic.twitter.com/klvHZFsy32
— ABC News (@abcnews) February 22, 2016
