A double decker bus has crashed into a bridge in Manchester, police have said.North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) had declared a “major incident” with 15 people taken to hospital following the incident on Barton Lane in Eccles.
It has since “stood down” from major incident status.Local media reported that one person was critically injured and two others were seriously hurt.
Pictures on social media showed the yellow bus with its roof torn off and emergency service workers aboard the upper deck.
On X, Greater Manchester Police wrote: “We are currently responding to a collision between a bus and a bridge at the junction of Barton Road and Trafford Road in Eccles.”Emergency services are currently on scene as part of the ongoing work.
“Please avoid the area as road closures are currently in place.”In a statement, NWAS said: “The trust dispatched a number of resources, including 10 emergency ambulances, advanced paramedics, our Hazard Area Response Team (HART) and colleagues from North West Air Ambulance. The first resource arrived on time at 15.10.
“NWAS treated 15 patients who were all taken to Salford Royal or Manchester Royal Infirmary hospitals.”An unnamed eyewitness said they arrived at the scene about two minutes after the crash.They told the Manchester Evening News: “I could just hear screaming coming from the top of the bus.”
Transport for Greater Manchester said the bus was a 100 service and was in operation at the time of the incident.Vernon Everitt, transport commissioner for Greater Manchester, said: “An immediate and urgent investigation into the circumstances is under way and we are working closely with the investigation team at Greater Manchester Police and the bus operator, Stagecoach.”This is clearly a distressing situation for everyone involved and we’d like to thank emergency services for their swift response.”The service departs from Shudehill and travels to Salford, Trafford Centre, and Warrington.The location where the incident took place does not appear to be on the Bee Network Route map for the 100 service.
