Two dead in crash between bus and car
By Matt Johnson
A young man and woman have died after a car and a Croydon bus crashed on Saturday night.
The car, a black Fiat Punto, was carrying five people when it was in collision with a double decker 119 bus at about 10.38pm on Corkscrew Hill, West Wickham.
Police, ambulance crews and fire fighters attended the scene within minutes. An air ambulance was also called.
The car was so badly damaged in the crash that firefighters had to cut all four passengers free, forcing the closure of the road until the early hours of Sunday morning.
The driver of the Fiat, a man believed to be in his early 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A woman passenger in the rear of vehicle was taken to the Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington where she later died as a result of a serious head injury.
Another woman passenger was taken to the same hospital, also with a head injury while the two other female passengers were taken to Kings College Hospital and Mayday.
The deceased have yet to be positively identified. It is not known where they are from, although police say their families have been informed.
Two other women in the car have also been taken to hospital where their conditions are described as not life threatening.
The bus driver was treated for shock but no passengers are believed to have been injured.
A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service said: "We got a call at 11.10pm to a report of a road traffic accident involving a bus and a car on Corkscrew Hill, West Wickham.
"Sadly one patient was deceased at the scene.
"There were four other patients: A 30-year-old woman was taken to Princess Royal University hospital with a serious head injury. A 25-year-old woman went to the same hospital with a head injury.
"A 29-year-old woman was taken to Kings College Hospital with a serious head injury. Another female patient was taken to Mayday with minor injuries."
The Collision Investigation Unit at Catford Traffic Garage are investigating the incident. No arrests have been made.
No one from Metrobus, who operate the 119 service between Bromley North and Purley Way, was available for comment.
27 Comments
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by anom, kent
Friday, November 14 2008, 9:47PM
“the black car did not fail 2 take the bend. there was no eye witness there thank u very much!”
by local resident, Corkscrew Hill, West Wickham
Friday, October 31 2008, 4:51PM
“As I called 999 the moment the crash happened, which was about 11.10 p.m., I can assure you that the first paramedic turned up within minutes, followed very quickly by the police and the fire service. Please don't speculate until all the facts are in, but an eye witness told me that the black car came up Corkscrew Hill fast, and failed to take the bend, causing a front on collision with the bus. There were no parked cars on the bus's side of the road. Heartfelt sympathy to the families of the deceased, and hopes of a speedy recovery for the one still in hospital.”
by val, london
Wednesday, October 29 2008, 12:37PM
“still no comments from the metrobus company!
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
by saffron, syd
Tuesday, October 28 2008, 5:29PM
“RIP Lukey i cant belive it hun you will be missed saffron xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”
by Teresa, croydon
Tuesday, October 28 2008, 12:42PM
“R.I.P Luke, he was a genuine and lovely person and will be missed by so many. My thoughts go out to his family and all his friends at betts park and from john rigby. You will never be forgotton xxx”
by Alison Campbell, croydon
Tuesday, October 28 2008, 10:35AM
“Rest in Peace Luke from your loving cousin Alison gone but not forgotten. xx”
by anon, Croydon
Monday, October 27 2008, 10:45PM
“I think its awful that people are writing comments like this who do not know the ins and outs of what really happened, we should all just be sad that whatever the circumstances, 2 people lost their live and 3 are still injured and recovering in hospital!! Condolences to the families and friends of those who didn't make it, and get well soon to those in hospital!!”
by 119 driver, croydon
Monday, October 27 2008, 9:28PM
“when u drive the bus all day u learn the good or bad roads and that road is deffently 1 ov the bad 1s there is always cars parked on the bends so u hav 2 take it wide the council should stop cars from parking there i feel sorry 4 all that was involved”
by zoe, clapham
Monday, October 27 2008, 8:38PM
“lukey baby, as he was known to family and friends who loved him, was a decent, hard working, charming and funny young man. an only child to wonderful parents who dolted on him, and a very large close loving family who will never be the same again. R.I.P LUKEY BABY”
by Bus Driver, South Croydon
Monday, October 27 2008, 8:19PM
“A Very sad incident for all those concerned, condolences to those that have lost a loved one.
This is to make a couple of points, firstly the 'I-bus' system does not measure your speed at specific points, it is not a speed ometer etc, it would be possible to get an average speed from it as it can tell where a bus is at any given time, if the SAT-Tracking is working properly, but given Busses do tend to slow down and speed up very oftern to pick up passengers etc this would not be a reliable speed, just an average between two points.
Secondly, Bus Drivers main target is the Saftey and Comfort of the passengers, not to get from A to B at break neck speed, some companies I understand do put preassure on the drivers to maintain their timetabled times (Luckliy the company I work for (Arriva)don't, saftey is more important - ), but in general everyone would get to their destinations quicker and more safely if there was just a bit more paticence on the roads, and more oftern than not a bit of sensible and considerate parking and that goes for ALL types of veichles.
But it takes tragic incidents like the one on Saturday night to highlight points that EVERYONE should think of as first-nature, not just when it suits them.”