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Inquiry after fatal coach crash Inquiry after fatal coach crash
(about 1 hour later)
Crash investigators have resumed their search to find out what caused a coach to crash down an embankment, killing one person and injuring 70 others. One man died and 70 others were injured when a coach carrying migrant workers rolled down an embankment and overturned in Staffordshire.
The coach collided with a car in Alton, Staffordshire, crashed through a wall and ended up in a garden near Alton Towers theme park on Monday evening. The vehicle collided with a car, crashed through a wall and ended up in a garden in Alton, near Alton Towers theme park, just before 1800 BST.
The vehicle was carrying migrant workers from Poland, Latvia Lithuania, Romania and South Africa. Those aboard were from Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and South Africa.
A 26-year-old man from Poland died and three people are critically ill. Two people with head injuries were flown to hospital and others taken to hospital by road.
Police said 21 people were taken to hospitals in Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, Burton-upon-Trent and in Selly Oak, Birmingham. The man who died was 26 years old and from Poland, police said.
Three people are described as being in a critical condition, four are said to be stable, 12 are being treated for minor injuries and two have been discharged. The passengers were reported to be living in the Peterborough area and to have been on a trip to Alton Towers.
It's mayhem, absolute mayhem Martin Bredda, local resident class="" href="/1/hi/england/staffordshire/7569413.stm">Villagers tell of crash fears Murray MacGregor, of West Midlands Ambulance Service, said the coach driver, a man from Lincolnshire, was also seriously injured.
The rest of the passengers were taken to Alton Towers for treatment after the crash on Station Road. "The vast majority of the injured have gone back to their homes," he said.
The British coach driver, who is thought to be from Lincolnshire, was seriously injured, West Midlands Ambulance Service said. One woman was airlifted to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, while another man and woman were taken to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent, also with head injuries.
Emergency crews said the passengers were believed to have been living in the Peterborough area and had been on a trip to the theme park. "Seven or so people suffered broken bones and serious cuts and 20 more had minor injuries," he added.
Ch Insp John Maddox, of Staffordshire Police, said the bus had been coming down a steep hill towards the bridge at the bottom, but failed to go around a steep bend, hit the wall and dropped into the garden. 'Difficult operation'
He said officers were using interpreters to help speak to witnesses, and they were also speaking to "relevant embassies" to keep them fully informed. A temporary treatment centre was set up at Alton Towers and the theme park provided transport for the injured to get there.
'Like thunder' "For our crews and the fire service and police it was a busy, difficult operation," he said.
Mr Maddox said investigators would be examining the coach on Tuesday morning, and afterwards specialist equipment would be used to move the vehicle. "The language barriers made it difficult as did the sheer numbers.
He added that Station Road would remain closed until the coach had been removed. "One of our drivers said it was absolutely tipping down and heavy rain never makes it any easier."
Ch Insp John Maddox, from Staffordshire Police, said officers were trying to establish what caused the crash.
"The bus was coming down a steep hill towards the bridge at the bottom, and from what I can see at the scene, that bus has not managed to go round the bend, and has careered through a wall and down a drop into a garden," he said.
All people on the coach have been accounted for, he added.
Police, ambulance and fire services explain their rescue efforts
Two air ambulances, 10 land ambulances, five rapid response vehicles and five fire engines were sent to the scene.Two air ambulances, 10 land ambulances, five rapid response vehicles and five fire engines were sent to the scene.
Ian Sloss, of Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said crews had been working "very hard in difficult circumstances" because of the awkward position in which the bus had ended up. Ian Sloss, a spokesman for the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the scene was very difficult.
"There's a bus in a difficult situation which crews have had to secure and obviously the crews are working very hard in difficult circumstances," he said.
Terri Peachey, whose garden the coach crashed into, said she heard a sound "like thunder" when the accident happened and found injured people "bleeding", screaming and "laying on the floor crying" in her garden.
Proposals have been made for alternative routes, but nothing's ever been built David Hughes Villagers tell of crash fears
"It all happened so quickly," she said, adding that the coach landed metres from her house.
Bradley Ford, who lives at the nearby Alton Bridge Hotel, told BBC News he had helped with casualties.
He said: "I heard this massive crash, rumble, of either crunching metal or what sounded to me initially as a thunderstorm as it was heavily raining before.
Walking wounded
"Then after that we heard shouts and screams so we obviously put it down to a crash.
"When I got to the scene there was a bus overturned, it looked like it had ploughed into a car and then down a neighbour's driveway into the garden.
"It must have dropped about 20ft (6m). It was on a slope, it's diagonal, not head-first."
He added: "There were people climbing out of the fire exits on the bus. There were many walking wounded, all being seen to by the ambulance staff."
It is believed the bus was carrying foreign workersIt is believed the bus was carrying foreign workers
Terri Peachey, whose garden the coach crashed into, said she heard a sound "like thunder" when the accident happened, and found injured people "bleeding", screaming and "lying on the floor crying" in her garden. The collision happened on Station Road, between Alton and the theme park, which is about one mile away.
Martin Bredda, who lives close to the crash scene, described the crash as "an accident waiting to happen". Margaret Grice, who lives near the scene, said some of the injured banged on her front door.
"It's a narrow country road. It's mayhem, absolute mayhem," he said. She said: "I went to the front door and there was... there was about 12 to 15 people, all crying hysterically, blood running down their faces and their arms and... they couldn't speak English but they were able to say "accident, accident" so at that point I then rang 999."
"We had a torrential downpour of rain just before it happened." Martin Bredda, who lives close to the scene of the crash, described the road as "an accident waiting to happen".
The theme park sent a minibus to the scene to collect anyone who had been released by the ambulance crews, a spokeswoman for Alton Towers said. "It's a narrow country road. It's mayhem, absolute mayhem. We had a torrential downpour of rain just before it happened.
The bus is not connected to the theme park, she added. "I was in the local pub when someone came in screaming for blankets and sheets.
/> 		"We all went to help but the area had been cordoned off by police."
Did you witness the crash? Send us your eye witness accounts using the form below.Did you witness the crash? Send us your eye witness accounts using the form below.
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