Head-on bus collision in Birmingham caught on CCTV

Updated

The dramatic moment two buses crashed head-on sending passengers flying has been caught on camera.

CCTV has come to light showing the impact which left both drivers in hospital and more than a dozen others needing medical treatment in Birmingham at the weekend.

Thomas Moore, whose terraced home is just yards away and whose cameras captured the incident on tape was one of the first on the scene, dialling 999 and helping the walking wounded.

He described feeling the crash shake the foundations of his front room as a single decker bus and a double decker tangled just yards from his window in Addison Road on Saturday lunchtime.

Both front cabs were badly crushed in the impact with medics saying both male drivers had been lucky to escape more serious injuries.

The clear footage shows the first passengers off the twin-deck bus were a mother cradling a young baby in her arms, carrying a pushchair, followed by an elderly man who walked off apparently unharmed.

An old couple sat on the front seats of the upper deck are seen being flung forward by the sudden impact, and are later comforted at the roadside with what appears to be facial injuries.

Mr Moore, aged 51, said in the 30 years of living in the street he had never seen an accident like it, but added he was not surprised.

"It's a busy road," he went on.

"With the parked cars, it gets narrow and we've four bus routes that come through here."

In the first few seconds after the crash, he went outside and spoke to the drivers of each bus, both of whom were trapped by the crash, getting each to shut off their engines before the emergency services arrived.

"I was chatting to my girlfriend on the phone in my front room and was just about to put the phone down and there was a bang," said Mr Moore.

"So I grabbed the phone back up, called 999 and told them to send everything."

He added: "I went and told the drivers, 'don't worry I've dialled 999 and they're coming'.

"Then I was checking on people and gave some water to the woman with her baby.

"It was a real mess and pretty shocking."

The footage showed the fire service and emergency services were on the scene just a few minutes after the crash, which happened just before 12pm.

Firefighters used cutting gear to free both drivers and carefully dragged the wrecked buses, both operated by National Express, clear of one another.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "The driver of the single decker bus, a man believed to be in his 40s, was treated by ambulance staff for leg injuries and once freed, was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

"The driver of the double decker bus, a man thought to be in his 40s, was also treated for leg injuries and again taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

"Both men appear to have escaped serious injuries which given the significance of the collision is extremely fortunate."

Seven others were taken to hospital with various injuries, while another seven were discharged at the scene.

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