[article] Dublin Bus Crash. Several Dead.

mike65

This from www.rte.ie

Five people were killed in an accident involving a bus in the centre of Dublin this afternoon.

It is understood the three women and two men who died were standing in a bus queue at Wellington Quay, near the Clarence hotel.

A bus is said to have collided with another bus, mounted the pavement and crashed into them at about 1.25pm.

A number of people were trapped by the bus, and at least 12 people have been seriously injured.

Gardaí, fire brigade personnel and other emergency services are at the scene and the entire area around the south quays has been cordoned off.

Gardaí are diverting traffic away from the south quays and the garda helicopter is observing the area.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, is at the scene of the accident and is consulting with the emergency services.

Mike.

Amz

That's my bus stop
Was meant to get 13:15 66B home from town but got a lift instead...

There is no shelter there though so that's an inaccuracy.
We're all kinda waiting around for news of the victims.
There's a very morbid atmosphere around here.

Dark day for Dublin Bus and CIE

mike65

Originally posted by Amz
That's my bus stop

There is no shelter there though so that's an inaccuracy.
We're all kinda waiting around for news of the victims.
There's a very morbid atmosphere around here.

Dark day for Dublin Bus and CIE

I'll edit,

Was meant to get 13:15 66B home from town but got a lift instead...

Such is the difference between life and death...

Mike.

Amz

I swear to God!
I've been feeling sick all day since I found out, I would have had my little brother with me too.

Victor

There is a saying about railways, that a happy railway is a safe railway (less stress, fewer short cuts, etc.).

I don't think Dublin Bus people are happy with the whole privatisation thing.

BuffyBot

I think it was more to do with the terminus not being a particularily suitable location.

Atreides

Originally posted by BuffyBot
I think it was more to do with the terminus not being a particularily suitable location.

They stoped using that terminus about 9 years ago due to it being dangerous (bus nearly always has to mounth the path to park, but due to luas works or something they where forced to start using it again, CIE where never happy about that and there was allot of debate about it at the time. A friend of mine actually wrote a report on transport safety in dublin for college, one of the things he highlighted was the danger to people at this terminus if a bus lost control.

Amz, christ.

SantaHoe

That's just awful
Standing at the bus stop minding their own business... and out of nowhere...

smoke.me.a.kipper

jesus amz.:( :dunno:

Victor

Originally posted by Skanger
A friend of mine actually wrote a report on transport safety in dublin for college, one of the things he highlighted was the danger to people at this terminus if a bus lost control.

Could I get a copy of this?

Atreides

don't know if he would be willing to let me give you a copy, but he seemed to know allot about it, damn lecturer didn't think so though.

mike65

Originally posted by Victor
There is a saying about railways, that a happy railway is a safe railway (less stress, fewer short cuts, etc.).

I don't think Dublin Bus people are happy with the whole privatisation thing.

Steady on Victor, while that thought may be correct (we all operate better when content with our lot), it could just be the driver had a heart atack or stroke or his foot slipped from brake to accelerator.

Mike.

Amz

Just found out a mate was just after getting on the bus when it was hit, she's ok but in shock...



Eep!

Victor

Originally posted by Skanger
don't know if he would be willing to let me give you a copy, but he seemed to know allot about it, damn lecturer didn't think so though.

If you want, just mention I'm interested and leave it with him.

mike65

Side Note - http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=117767

Nice big :rolleyes:

Mike.

Our man in Havana

Side Note - http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=117767

Nice big

Mike.

Pretty distrubing site.:mad:

BuffyBot

Ah good old stormfront, nothing like a good tragedy so we can blame "foreigners" :rolleyes:

Tommy Vercetti

terrible tragedy

Victor

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/02/22/story135345.html

Bus crash: Firm 'warned of dangers weeks ago'
22/02/2004 - 9:13:21 am

Gardaí were today investigating a bus-stop accident that claimed five lives amid claims that the transport company was warned weeks ago of the dangers of the location of the terminus.

Three women and two men died yesterday when a double-decker bus apparently went out of control and mounted a pavement, ploughing into a queue of waiting passengers close to the Clarence Hotel, owned by the U2 rock group, on Dublin’s crowded River Liffeyside Wellington Quay.

Almost 20 others were injured in the incident, some seriously. Twelve of the injured were in a stable condition in hospital today. None of the dead has been named.

Overnight, the two buses involved in the crash were taken to Garda headquarters for a technical examination, and the Wellington Quay area was reopened to traffic.

According to reports today, a senior manager at CIÉ was warned two weeks ago that the bus terminus in question was “unsafe” and a difficult location for drivers to queue buses.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Transport Minister Seamus Brennan both pledged full inquiries after visiting the scene of the crash yesterday.

Gardaí today confirmed that one of the victims was a non-Irish foreign national.

The 33-year-old man had an address in Lucan, Co Dublin. The second man to die was a 50-year-old from Leixlip, Co Dublin.

The three women victims were aged 69, 59 and 43. Two were from Dublin and the third from Maynooth, Co Kildare.

The names of the dead have still to be disclosed.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/02/22/story135368.html

Local councillor had fears about bus stop
22/02/2004 - 12:32:39 pm

A local councillor who raised concerns about a Dublin city centre bus terminus that was yesterday the scene of a crash that claimed five lives, today spoke of fears expressed before the tragedy about personal safety.

Catherine Murphy, chairwoman of the traffic and transport committee of Leixlip Town Council, highlighted the “unsatisfactory” bus location on the River Liffeyside Wellington Quay with executives of the Dublin Bus Company less than two weeks ago.

One of the two buses involved in the accident, the number 66, which serves the Leixlip area, originally terminated in another part of central Dublin but was recently re-sited to make way for work on the city’s new Luas light transport system.

Ms Murphy said her council had been told that Dublin Bus was unhappy at the new location and planned to move it again later this year.

“The unsatisfactory nature of the terminus at Wellington Quay was one of the items on the agenda at our meeting with Dublin Bus,” she reported.

“It is confined to a much tighter space than in its previous location, and people had concerns about personal safety.

“At peak times, people had to push through, but I don’t really think you could have predicted the accident that has happened, and the awfulness of it.

“There is a need to pack waiting buses into a tight area on the quays.”

Dublin Bus said an investigation headed by senior management would be carried out. Garda inquiries are also continuing.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Transport Minister Seamus Brennan both pledged full inquiries after visiting the scene of the crash yesterday.

The five who died have still to be named but the three women victims were aged 43, 59 and 69 years. Two of them were from Dublin, while the third was from Maynooth.

A 50-year-old man from Leixlip and a 33-year-old male foreign national with an address in Lucan were also killed.

A total of 12 people were still receiving hospital treatment today for their injuries.

The two buses involved in the crash were being examined at the Irish police headquarters in Dublin.

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0222/dublin.html

Family liason team to be provided
February 22, 2004

(17:19) Post mortems are being carried out on all five victims of yesterday's fatal bus accident this afternoon by the State Pathologist.

Dublin Bus has set up a family liason team to deal with the tragedy and has brought in bereavement counsellors to help victims affected by the accident.

An emergency board meeting of the company will be held tomorrow to discuss the tragedy, and the company is offering to meet the medical costs of victims.

Dublin Bus is also bringing in experts from Britain and Germany who are experienced in major transport accidents.

CIÉ was warned less than two weeks ago about the dangers of the bus terminus on Dublin's Wellington Quay where five people lost their lives yesterday.

The off-duty double decker bus mounted the footpath at Wellington Quay and struck another bus, a 66 which was stopping to pick up passengers for Maynooth.

The victims were three women aged 69, 59 and 43, two from Dublin and one from Maynooth; and two men, a 50-year-old from Leixlip and a 33-year-old foreign national with a Lucan address.

12 people were still in the Mater, St James's and St Vincent's Hospitals this morning. They are all reported to be stable.

Late last night the buses involved in the crash were removed to Garda Headquarters for technical examination, and the Wellington Quay area has now re-opened to traffic.

The Sunday Independent reports that less than two weeks ago a senior CIÉ manager was warned that the bus terminus in question was unsafe, and a very difficult location for for drivers to queue buses.

The comments were made during a meeting of Leixlip town commissioners. Lexlip is on the route of the 66 bus.

Local Councillor Catherine Murphy, who chaired the meeting, claimed that the CIÉ manager was very understanding of the safety concerns of the location of the terminus.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/02/22/story135421.html

Dublin bus brings in crash experts
22/02/2004 - 5:26:26 pm

A number of people remain in hospitals across Dublin following yesterday's bus tragedy at Wellington Quay.

Doctors say the victims are stable and not critical.

Meanwhile, Gardaí are continuing to carry out technical examinations of the scene.

Dublin Bus is also bringing crash experts from Britain and Germany to assist with the investigation.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/2589854?view=Eircomnet

Shocked Taoiseach in tears CIE 'knew bus stop unsafe'
From:The Irish Independent
Sunday, 22nd February, 2004

A SENIOR manager with Dublin bus was told less than two weeks ago that the bus terminus at Wellington Quay, where five people were killed yesterday, was "unsafe" and a very difficult location for drivers to queue their buses.

The remarks were made during a meeting between dis-satisfied members of Leixlip Town Council, which is on the route of the 66 bus, and a senior manager with Dublin Bus.

Gardai and CIE are now investigating the possibility that the bus driver who ploughed into a Saturday afternoon crowd, killing five and injuring 17, may have had a heart attack or some other seizure.

Two buses were involved in the tragedy, the Number 66 to Maynooth and an out-of-service double-decker CIE bus travelling in the same direction. The dead were three women and two men, one a Ukrainian. All the victims have now been identified.

A distraught Taoiseach rushed to the scene and left in tears.

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/2589862?view=Eircomnet

Five dead in worst tragedy in the history of Dublin Bus
From:The Irish Independent
Sunday, 22nd February, 2004
CHARLIE MALLON

THESE are the scenes of utter carnage which hit Dublin city centre yesterday claiming five lives.

Three women and two men died at the scene.

Eyewitness Fergal Doyle said: "I was walking past the hotel when I heard an awful bang. I looked back and saw a couple of people being dragged underneath the bus and a postbox being taken out as well. I'm sorry, I'm in a bit of shock after seeing the whole thing. It was very, very tragic."

The front area of the Clarence Hotel became a hospital ward for the afternoon as fire brigade ambulance crews tended to the injured in the lobby.

From inside the Clarence I saw a fire crew eventually free one middle-aged man from under the bus on the footpath.

They strapped him to a stretcher just outside the front door and attached a breathing apparatus as a wailing ambulance waited to bring him to hospital.

At the same time an elderly woman, with blood pouring from a cut on her right arm, was having it bandaged by a fireman in the doorway.

Inside in the foyer a middle-aged woman, obviously in a state of severe shock, sat on a chair crying her eyes out.

Another fireman tried to comfort her and asked if she was injured in any way.

The tears flowed and she did not answer as hotel staff brought her a glass of water.

Outside the front door the main rescue operation was going on as specialist equipment was used to free those pinned under the bus.

But for some it was obviously too late - while others had suffered very severe head and internal injuries.

There are conflicting accounts as to how the accident happened at Wellington Quay at 1.25pm outside the Clarence Hotel, which is owned by the U2 rock group.

Passengers were queueing to board a parked No 66 bus at Wellington Quay when a second out-of-service duble-decker mounted the pavement on the inside of the No 66 and drove into the queue. There was no indication of a collision either on the street or with the parked bus.

All the dead and most of the seriously injured were trapped under the bus on the pavement.

They are investigating the possibility that the driver of the out-of-service bus might have suffered a heart attack or some other kind of seizure.

Both drivers, one a non-national, were being treated in hospital last night. Both drivers were also interviewed by gardai. An incident centre has been established at Pearse Street Garda station, where a major accident investigation, led by Chief Supt Bill Donohue and Supt Tom Conway, is underway.

Three Dublin hospitals which dealt with the emergency said there were five dead, including a non-national believed to be a Ukrainian. Another of the dead is said to be the daughter of a senior garda. None of the names were released last night, but all had been identified.

The hospitals treated 16 injured people. Three were described as having major injuries but were stable and not critical; three were admitted with non-life-threatening injuries; ten had minor injuries but two went home last night.

The bus mounted the footpath directly outside the Clarence Hotel, several hundred yards from O'Connell Street Bridge.

Staff from the Clarence Hotel did all they could to assist the injured. General Manager Robert Vaneerde said last night: "It was a horrible, horrible accident. There were so many people involved. Our staff did what they could do to help, bringing blankets and giving people tea. Bono is abroad at the minute so I don't think he is aware of the accident, but when he hears his thoughts will be with the families of the dead and injured."

A Dublin Bus spokeswoman said: "This really is a very dark day for us." She went on to describe the tragedy as a "devastating accident, the worst in the history of Dublin Bus".

She said it appeared that an out-of-service bus painted in the new company yellow and blue livery - travelling out of the city, apparently at speed - mounted the pavement, smashing down litter bins and a post box before ploughing into the queue of people about to board a parked 66 bus. The 66 bus services Chapelizod, Palmerstown, Leixlip, Lucan and Maynooth.

Wellington Quay, one of the main arteries out of Dublin, remained closed to traffic last night as garda investigations continued. The accident happened on the one-way street that runs along the south bank of the River Liffey. The three-lane road is perpetually overloaded with a mix of cars, buses and even 18-wheeler trucks that use the road to reach western Dublin and the motorway links beyond to Cork, Limerick and Galway.

By day, the area around the accident is packed with tourists and shoppers using Dublin's most famous pedestrian crossing, the Ha'penny Bridge, which links the tourist quarter of Temple Bar with the northside's major pedestrian shopping area, Henry Street.

The bus that mounted the path was not carrying any passengers and the driver was returning to the depot at Conyngham Road depot when the tragedy happened at around 1.20pm.

"They hadn't a chance," one traumatised eyewitness told a fire brigade ambulance crew. "They were were knocked down like ninepins."

Dublin Bus was in contact with international accident investigators last night and is setting up a investigation committee under managing director Dr Allen Westwell. The company said they have also organised designated staff to deal directly with the families of the dead and injured and have arranged trauma and bereavement counselling.

The carnage happened on one of the busiest Saturdays of the year, in one of the busiest parts of the city.

Thousands of Welsh rugby fans were in town for the weekend, in addition to the throngs swarming through Temple Bar just round the corner from the scene of the crash.

Fleets of ambulances raced to the scene along with Garda patrols on every possible mode of transport. They arrived on horseback, bikes, motorbikes, and patrol cars while the Garda helicopter monitored the situation from the air.

Two hours after the horrific crash, the scene was visited by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Transport Minister Seamus Brennan.

Last night, the Taoiseach said: "It was with great distress that I learned about those who have lost their lives and the many others who have been injured, going about their daily lives in Dublin city centre today. I wish to extend my sincerest sympathies to their families at this time of terrible loss."

President Mary McAleese expressed her shock a the tragic accident. "My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who have been so tragically killed in Dublin today and with those who have been injured in this dreadful event in the midst of our capital," she said.

Last night, the chairman of CIE, John Lynch, extended his sympathy to the relatives of those killed and injured in the tragedy. He said it had been a dark and tragic day for the company which had never experienced an accident of this magnitude.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Royston Brady said: "I wish to extend my heartfelt sympathy to those who lost loved ones in this afternoon's bus crash in the city centre. I also hope that those who were injured will have a speedy recovery."

Two women were brought in dead to the Mater Hospital. Two people were admitted with non-life-threatenening injuries, and two attended with minor injuries which did not require admission.

Three people were brought in dead to St Vincent's Hospital. One injured person was admitted and was described as "stable, not critical" last night.

Three people with major injuries were brought in to St James's Hospital. Last night, they were all described as "stable, not critical". Eight people with minor injuries were admitted, two of whom were able to go home last night.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/2589864?view=Eircomnet

Survivors tell of panic that hit the city queues
Sunday, 22nd February, 2004
ALAN O'KEEFFE

AS relatives of those injured in the Dublin Bus carnage waited in a late-night vigil at St James's Hospital last night, a councillor revealed that the bus-stop where five people were killed had been the subject of several safety complaints in recent years.

One woman in the hospital said: "I heard one woman injured in the crash telling a doctor that she would have been killed if it wasn't for a man who pushed her out of the way of the bus at the last second."

But members of the public had complained about the location of the stop on the busy city quay since it was moved to Wellington Quay in 2001, said Kildare Labour Councillor Catherine Murphy last night.

She claimed that a Dublin Bus manager had agreed at a meeting with a Leixlip Town Council committee that the No 66 bus terminus on Wellington Quay was "unsatisfactory" and "unsafe and unclean".

Commuters from Leixlip and Lucan who use the stop had been complaining for years to the council's traffic and transport committee members about the location of the stop.

Cllr Murphy, chairperson of the committee, told the Sunday Independent that people were not only worried about being assaulted and robbed at the new location, but that they also were unhappy on road safety grounds because traffic was "too busy".

"They felt it was unsafe from a road safety and personal safety point of view," she said.

She added that the committee met the manager of the Conyngham Road bus depot that serves the 66 route less than two weeks ago and he was very understanding of the safety fears and complaints of the committee.

Dublin Bus had indicated to council members that the area along Wellington Quay was "very problematic" for bus drivers to get their buses in and out of the bus stops on the busy quay, she said.

She said that buses often ended up double parked and that the company indicated it was unhappy that were was insufficient room to manoeuvre buses at the location.

"A rethink needs to happen immediately about a new terminus," she said.

"The public have no confidence in the location. It is too busy and too many buses are being crammed into the space available," she added.

Meanwhile, relatives of victims of the bus tragedy sat quietly together at St James's Hospital waiting for news of loved ones undergoing emergency treatment for theirinjuries.

As doctors and nurses treated injured passengers, relatives of the victims held sombre vigils in the waiting areas of the A&E department.

Some of the relatives were too overcome to speak about their ordeal but others expressed relief that their loved ones had at least survived the carnage on the city quay.

A group of relatives of injured passenger Breda Colgan said they received a telephone call that she had been injured in a traffic accident but they did not know at first the extent of her injuries.

Ms Colgan, of Sandymount, Dublin, was standing near the bus-stop when the bus ploughed into the people.

Her sister, Nora Hendrick, said: "I was able to visit Breda and they told me she had a fractured foot. Breda told me that she thinks a pole from the bus stop fell on her foot.

"She told me that, when it happened, she just went cold."

Ms Hendrick said the whole family was very worried but were also relieved to find out she was going to be all right. "Thanks be to God she will be okay. We feel very sorry for other families who have lost loved ones," she said.

A niece of Ms Colgan said the family felt for all the victims. The niece, Mrs Ann McGovern, from Celbridge, said: "Our hearts go out to all the people who have lost members of their families.

"We're very glad that our aunt is going to be all right."

A patient who had been staying at the hospital for a number of days said there was "huge activity" when the injured people were being to be ferried into the hospital.

The bus carnage comes as road deaths this year were already up by a third, with 53 fatalities up to yesterday's accident, compared with 37 in the same period last year.

Accidents last week alone claimed the lives of 11 people including a 37-year-old man, who was killed when his motorbike hit a car yesterday morning in Duagh, Co Kerry. Deaths in January were up 50 per cent on the same month last year. This month there have been 23 fatalities.

mike65

I saw the Operations Manager of Dublin Bus rubbish the claim that the Wellington Quay stop was dangerous or that anyone had said it was.

Mike.

Victor

Originally posted by mike65
I saw the Operations Manager of Dublin Bus rubbish the claim that the Wellington Quay stop was dangerous or that anyone had said it was.

Apparently Leixlip Town Council have a different view and raised it with the manager of the Conyngham Road depot.

Amz

Yup Catherine Murphy had raised it at a recent meeting.
There have been many complaints by residents in the area that it is a dangerous spot, at peak times there is a crush on the footpath and people have to walk onto the road to pass by those waiting at the stops in the area.

Capt'n Midnight

Thought I heard on the news that having the buses there / width of the path was due to displacament caused by Luas works ?

Amz

Yes it is, our stop used to be on Middle Abbey Street and was moved either last year or the year before (Can't remember) but the path is so narrow that at busy times it's extremely dangerous. Plus as a bus pulls up you have the mad rush as people push and shove to get on/be first in the queue.

John R

Some DB drivers have also complained about the sighting of this terminus, both within the company and publicly.

uberwolf

my brother had been due to get that bus home, and was an hour and a half answering his phone afterwards (not a pleasant wait). The bus terminates outside my front door step. Horrfic sounding incident, and its proximity brings it home a little more.

Sounds like they had no chance. Wall on one side, bus on another and a second bus flying at them. Shouldn't have been possible.

ixoy

Originally posted by mike65
I saw the Operations Manager of Dublin Bus rubbish the claim that the Wellington Quay stop was dangerous or that anyone had said it was.

Mike.

Is the man visually impaired? Seriously? I've walked by there enough for it to clear there's overcrowding problems. He's presumably trying to cover his overpadded posterior with a statement like that.

fitz

My bus-stop too.
Scary.

Part of the problem is that the 66 and 67 busses share the same stop. They should have seperate stops.

Add to that the fact that the 25s stop is 20 feet away, and while there's a 25 every 10-15 minutes, if a 66 or 67 arrives, God forbid people have to wait to get a 25 to bring them to to Lucan, and there's a huge rush on the 66/67 bus-stop.
It's ludicrous.

I remember a couple of months ago thinking how it'd be far safer to have the buses terminate there, but load passengers at the next stop down the quays, on Wood Quay, where there's far more room.

Tragic, and thoughts and sympathies to all affected.