A double decker bus in Kilmarnock has crashed into a railway bridge, resulting in four people being injured and the roof of the bus being torn off. The accident happened at around 2pm on Macphail Drive, near Culzean Crescent. Emergency services have closed off the area, and video of the incident posted on social media shows people on top of the roofless bus by the bridge, which was marked for vehicles below a particular height. It emerges that the bus was the number six Stagecoach bus and was heading to Bellfield in Kilmarnock. The injured were taken to hospital, and none of them are seriously hurt.
Reports suggest that just days ago in Glasgow a similar incident occurred. Another double decker bus was involved, and it collided with a railway bridge, prompting one man to be critically injured and hospitalised. It is thought that the Kilmarnock incident occurred because the bus was travelling too fast when it went under the bridge – on the Macphail Drive side to the Holehouse Road of the tunnel – although investigations are ongoing. It is also believed the bus driver took a wrong turn, as the route taken appears not to have been the correct one.
A passenger on the double decker bus in Kilmarnock and eyewitness to the incident reported that the bus driver heeded his breaks throughout the ordeal. The passenger recounted that he wasn’t badly injured, only suffering from a sore neck and scratches from the shattered glass. Up to 11 teenagers were upstairs on the bus when the roof was removed, and the passenger explained that everyone was aware of what was about to happen. The sound of the collision was described as horrendous.
The authorities are urging the public to steer clear of the area, as the road is closed in both directions. As well as the ambulance service, a significant number of police vehicles turned up, along with engineers from Network Rail. The bridge was inspected, and a spokesperson confirmed that it hadn’t suffered any structural damage. ScotRail has since confirmed that rail services remain unaffected
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