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Home / New Zealand

Runaway bus horror: Driverless double-decker injures three in Victoria St in Auckland

NZ Herald
13 Jan, 2020 01:02 AM3 mins to read

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Focus Live: Runaway bus ploughs through pedestrians in Auckland CBD. Video / TVNZ / Jason Oxenham

A woman with a child was run over by a driverless double-decker bus in downtown Auckland, with witnesses racing to free her.

Pedestrians watched in horror as the runaway double-decker bus rolled down a hill and injured three people in downtown Auckland just after 1pm.

A witness said a young woman with a child was struck by the City Sightseeing Tours bus.

"She went under the bus and the rest of us managed to get out of the way," she told the Herald.

"Everyone jumped in and helped her out from under the bus. Then we had to locate the baby."

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"There was no bus driver. There was no one.

"It was absolutely terrifying".

A St John spokeswoman said two people had been taken to Auckland City Hospital with moderate injuries. She could not confirm whether one of them was a child.

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Police had earlier said three people had been injured, and all were in a minor condition.

Parts of the road were cordoned off and motorists have been warned to expect delays as traffic management remains in place.

UPDATE 2:50PM
Lanes have reopened on Victoria St West in the City Centre following a crash. Continue to expect delays through the area as traffic management remains in place. ^MF https://t.co/tgOXFRNk5L

— Auckland Transport (@AklTransport) January 13, 2020

A second witness, Mark Mallinger, told the Herald he saw a double decker sightseeing bus rolling down Victoria St and a person, presumed to be its driver, running after it.

He heard people screaming after the bus crashed into a construction site on the corner of Victoria and Albert Sts.

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Mallinger said he heard a crunching sound as the bus crashed backward through a construction barrier.

The scene at the crash site. Photo / Will Trafford
The scene at the crash site. Photo / Will Trafford

He said the bus had gone through an area where pedestrians crossed the road at the traffic lights - and it was busy as it was lunchtime.

Despite the steep hill the bus came to a stop when it hit the construction site.

The runaway bus came to a stop in a roadworks area. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The runaway bus came to a stop in a roadworks area. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The bus had started rolling slowly, so he assumed it was being reversed - until it sped up and he saw the driver running after it.

A reporter at the scene said a woman appeared to have been trapped but was freed now.

She was sitting down holding a young child and was being attended to by fire officers. She appeared to have escaped serious injury and was able to walk to an ambulance.

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A child's pram can be seen behind the bus. Photo / Dean Purcell
A child's pram can be seen behind the bus. Photo / Dean Purcell

Her arm appeared to have been hurt as it was strapped up and was scraped.

There was also an abandoned pram which did not appear to be damaged and appeared to belong to the injured woman.

An aerial view of the crash site. Photo / Bram van der Kolk
An aerial view of the crash site. Photo / Bram van der Kolk

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said it had been notified of the incident.

"We are making initial inquiries to establish what has occurred, and what our next steps might be."

Police said the crash near the corner of Victoria St and Albert St was reported at 1.05pm.

"Cordons are in place at the intersection where the incident has occurred.

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"These are expected to be in place for a period while the scene is cleared."

Two ambulances have arrived at the scene and there are two fire trucks and two police cars.

A City Sightseeing Tours spokeswoman declined to comment on the accident.

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