Four people injured when roof of double decker bus breaks
Four people were injured when a double-decker bus crashed into a railway bridge with its roof torn off in Kilmarnock.
Emergency services were called to the collision on MacPhail Drive near Culzean Crescent in Kilmarnock at around 14:00 and the area was sealed off.
Footage of the scene posted on social media showed people standing over a roofless bus near the bridge, which is marked for vehicles below a certain height.
It comes just days after another double-decker bus crashed into a railway bridge in Glasgow One person is in critical condition in hospital,
A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed that one ambulance and three response teams were sent to the scene at 13:55.
Four patients were taken to University Hospital Crosshouse in Kilmarnock.
The number six Stagecoach bus, which was heading towards Belfield in Kilmarnock, appears to have gone under the bridge at MacPhail Drive.
A sign near the bridge states that it is not suitable for vehicles taller than 8 ft 3 in (2.5 m).
When the vehicle passed through the tunnel, the roof of the bus was completely torn off and left behind.
The bus is going at ‘some speed’
A teenager present on the upper deck of the bus said he was still in shock after the incident.
He said there were about 11 teenagers on the upper level.
He told BBC Scotland News: “We were supposed to go to the right but the bus driver took a completely different route and went under the railway bridge, which we shouldn’t have done.
“The bus was going about 30 or 40 miles an hour.
“The driver kept hitting the brakes all the way and the whole roof of the bus flew off. The bus broke and glass went everywhere, I can feel the glass on me.”
“The people on the bus knew it was going to happen before it happened. It was really scary.”
The boy said he was not badly injured, but his neck was sore and he had scratches from the broken glass.
He said, “I can’t explain the sound, it was like a massive crash across the entire span of the bridge.”
“And then to hear all the glass fall and feel it, it was horrible.”
Another witness told BBC Scotland News: “There are about eight police vehicles and four ambulances.
“The bus would have gone straight through the tunnel from MacPhail Drive down to Holehouse Road, I feel very bad for anyone on board.
“The bus and its roof are on completely different sides of the tunnel.”
A spokesperson for Stagecoach West Scotland confirmed that the bus had collided with a low-lying bridge. He said the investigation is ongoing and the bus company is working closely with police.
Police Scotland said the road is closed in both directions and the public is being asked to avoid the area.
ScotRail confirmed that no train services were affected.
Network Rail engineers inspected the bridge – a spokesman later said it had suffered no structural damage.
