There were a total of 33 passengers on board the Oxford Tube vehicle when it crashed. Seventeen of those passengers were taken to hospital for treatment and five of those admitted needed surgery, mainly for broken bones. The double-decker coach had been travelling from London to Oxford when it crashed through a barrier and rolled on to its side down an embankment.
A police spokesman said that officers were investigating whether the coach took a different exit than normal, as it usually leaves the M40 at junction 8, but the accident occurred on the slip road around junction 7. One person was thrown clear of the vehicle, and another had to be freed from the wreckage. Some people with minor injuries were treated at the scene and others were taken to hospital.
Passenger, Lawrence Lew, told the BBC: “The bus was going very quickly indeed and I did think for a split second, I wondered if this bus is going to be topped because of the angle we were going at. Just after I thought that, before you knew it, the unimaginable happened.”
John Nixon, of Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said that when he arrived at the scene he saw the coach on its side on an embankment. He said his crew’s first job was to stabilise the coach, which still had injured passengers on board.
A spokesman for the Oxford Tube said: “The coach was understood to have gone through a barrier and ended up on its side. The driver is not believed to have been seriously hurt but was amongst those to be taken to hospital. Safety is our absolute priority and our immediate thoughts are with those who have been injured in the accident.”
An accident of any kind can be a traumatic time for anyone involved. Thankfully, none of the injuries from that accident appear to be life threatening. If you have been involved in a road traffic accident then you may be able to make an injury compensation claim. For more information contact the Injury Lawyers for free and friendly expert advice about claiming.