A Birmingham housewife has told how she feared for her life when she clung to a rail on a packed bus which crashed into a house, injuring 15 people.
Linda Griffith, from Hockley, was standing at the front of the number 8a bus when it collided with two cars and a van before ploughing into a maisonette in the Lozells area of city.
She was standing next to a pram which held her one-year-old baby. Ms Griffiths’s 11-year-old son was sitting at the back of the bus, which was making its way to Hockley, as there were very few seats available.
The 37-year-old housewife said: "The bus hit a blue car which was parked on the right hand side of the road and it then swerved and hit another car on the left hand side of the road. During all this, the bus just continued.
"There was no braking, which I found to be really odd. So the only way we were ever going to stop was if we hit something solid, which was the house. After the driver hit the first vehicle I went to shout to her to slow down, but before I could get my words out we hit another vehicle. I was really frightened for my children and for myself. It was the worst experience of my life. I cannot describe how frightening it was.
"I do not know how any of this happened. It was really very strange. I spoke to someone who watched the bus coming towards the house, and she said that the driver was screaming with her hands in the air immediately before the collision."
Ms Griffiths was also told that the driver of the second car that was hit by the bus was sitting in the driver's seat making calls from her mobile phone, and had only left the vehicle to go into the house seconds before the collision.
More than a dozen people were being treated in hospital last night following the accident on Nursery Road, which happened at about 5pm.
Among the 11 injured from the bus were four children and the female bus driver, who was said to be in her fifties.
The elderly male occupant of the house was not injured by the crash, but suffered a flare-up of an existing medical condition. Another three people who were in the house were also taken to hospital.
Neighbours said the elderly man who lived alone at the address would often be seen sitting in his front window watching goings on in the street.
None of the injured were believed to be seriously hurt, with the majority suffering cuts and bruises.
A spokeswoman for Travel West Midlands said a full investigation would be carried out by the bus company to run alongside separate inquiries by West Midlands Police and the Vehicle and Operators Services Agency (VOSA).
Six ambulances were sent to the scene, along with two specialist paramedic units.
Three fire crews and a fire service technical support unit also helped get the passengers from the bus and make the area safe.
West Midlands Fire Service divisional officer Phil James said: "The bus hit a couple of cars and a van then ended up hitting a terrace property which we believe is a maisonette.
"There were 11 people who we led to safety and four people in the property. I do not think anybody sustained any serious injuries."
