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Five dead in worst tragedy in the history of Dublin
Bus
Sunday February 22nd 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.
© Irish Independent