UK Edition
A pedestrian has been killed after being hit by a bus outside London Victoria railway station, the second fatal collision at the bus hub in less than three years.
Emergency services including police, fire and ambulance crews were called to reports of a fatal collision at around 9am on Monday.
Scotland Yard confirmed that the pedestrian was declared dead just before 9.30am, and that officers were working to inform next of kin.
According to reports, the collision took place when a number 13 double decker bus crashed into a shelter at the bus station.
Ewelina Rusin, 39, a manager at a nearby Pret a Manger shop, said she heard glass smashing and that firefighters said the bus had crashed into a stop.
She said: “I heard broken glass and thought it was binmen collecting glass from the pub [The Shakespeare] across the road.
“Police, fire and ambulance crews all came straight away. They were here within minutes. There were about 10 cars. The fire guys came in and said someone had died after the bus crashed into one of the glass bus stops. But at the time, I didn’t think much of it – I thought it was all the bottles from the pub across the road.”
The driver was taken to hospital and the bus station remains closed, with around a dozen officers stationed at the scene.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “At 8:59am, police were made aware of a serious road traffic collision between a pedestrian and a bus at the London Transport bus Sstation outside Victoria station.
“Multiple Metropolitan Police units were in attendance, along with officers from British Transport Police and the London Ambulance Service.
“Despite the best efforts of the London Ambulance Service, the pedestrian was pronounced dead at 9:26am.
“The driver of the bus has been conveyed to hospital by the London Ambulance Service. The bus station remains closed, but there are no other road closures in place.”
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, confirmed that an investigation had been launched into what he described as an “awful tragedy”. He said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with this pedestrian who has been killed today.”
Glynn Barton, the chief operating officer of Transport for London (TfL), said: “This will have been a deeply distressing incident for everyone involved, and we have support available for those affected.
“TfL and the operator RATP are assisting the police with their investigation.”
RATP Dev Transit London confirmed it was investigating the death. A spokesman for the operator said: “Emergency services are in attendance, and our teams will be working closely with the relevant authorities to determine the circumstances of the incident.
“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the pedestrian who has sadly passed away.”
Victoria bus station was closed late last year for works to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility for partially sighted passengers.
The stations’s problems included an “unconventional” layout of pedestrian crossings, use of markings and a lack of tactile paving, as well as one crossing that directed pedestrians into a bus stop.
The fatality followed the death of Melissa Burr in August 2021. Ms Burr died from multiple injuries when bus driver Olusofa Popoola pressed the accelerator rather than the brake, shunting the vehicle forward into a stationary bus, which then hit her.
Popoola admitted death by careless driving at the Old Bailey but was cleared by a jury of the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury following a retrial. The 61-year-old was handed an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, at the Old Bailey earlier this month.