Miracle escape as van demolishes bus stop

Apr 20 2007

THREE people had a "miracle" escape today when a works van swerved off a busy road and demolished a bus-stop in Birmingham.

They were waiting at the stop in Hagley Road, Edgbaston, when the commercial van veered off the road and ploughed into the shelter.

Paramedics said the three escaped with minor injuries to the feet and face.

The road was cordoned off as police investigated the cause of the smash which brought rush-hour chaos to thousands of city centre-bound drivers.

One eye-witness said: "When you drive along the Hagley Road at that time of the morning, the bus-stops are full of people waiting for a bus to come into Birmingham.

"So it was a miracle that no one was seriously hurt. It caused huge delays for people and the queues of traffic stretched back to Bearwood soon after the crash."

Emergency services were alerted following the collision at about 6.40am today.

The van was heading into city when it crashed into the shelter outside the Thistle Hotel, near the junction with Portland Road.

Fire crews from Bournbrook and Ladywood fire stations were called to Hagley Road to make the van and shelter safe.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "Three casualties suffered minor injuries in the accident and were taken to Dudley Road hospital for treatment."

One lane was closed in both locations as police and paramedics dealt with the casualties and investigated the cause of the collision.

In November 2004, teenager Toni McCarthy was killed after a Ford Transit van ploughed into her bus shelter.

The 16-year-old was on her way to a friend's birthday party when the vehicle swerved off the road and smashed into the shelter on Chester Road, Erdington.

Drunk driver David Laverty, 39, of Hanson's Bridge Road, Erdington, later pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and was jailed for five years in March 2005.