Police are appealing for witnesses after a man died and 13 people were injured when a car smashed into a night bus.
Its driver, who is believed to be in his 20s, was one of four men in the Audi when it was involved in the accident with the N38 bus in Lea Bridge Road, Lower Clapton, at around 2.20am today.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the three others in the car were also injured, one critically, while 10 people on the N38 bus were treated as “walking wounded” and were taken to hospital in another bus.
One line of enquiry police are thought to be investigating is that the car was racing another vehicle.
A police spokesman said: “It is believed that the car was travelling with or closely behind another vehicle along Lea Bridge Road.
“The driver of this second vehicle may be a vital witness and is urged to contact police.”
A wrecked blue car still lay across a central reservation next to traffic lights close to the Lee Valley Ice Centre this morning.
The bus, a new double decker Routemaster, stood nearby, its right front corner crumpled and its right side angled into a grassy verge, where it is thought it swerved to avoid the car.
Many people in the area told the Gazette this morning that a lot of cars race down Lea Bridge Road because it is so quiet.
Adrian Neeleman, resident at nearby Paradise Park, said he was not surprised at the crash: “There are some cars that drive really fast down Lea Bridge Road, but it’s always shocking for something like this to happen close to where you live.”
Imogen Sherwood, 30, who also lives in the complex, said: “I heard there was a car on the wrong side of the road, there are cars speeding up and down that road usually.”
Police said that no one had been arrested and inquiries into the cause of the collision were taking place.
The roads from Chatsworth Road with the junction of Lea Bridge Road to Orient Way with the junction with Lea Bridge Road were closed this morning.
Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to contact the witness appeal line on 020 8597 4874 or via 101.
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