Coventry bus crash: 77-year-old driver ‘had passed medical’

He was sitting at the top deck of the bus when it hit the supermarket and died from his injuries.

The company is yet to officially release his name but Chander has been named in a few United Kingdom media reports as the man behind the wheel of the packed bus, which resulted in the death of seven-year-old Rowan Fitzgerald and Dora Hancox, in her 70s, on Saturday.

The woman, who was visibly distressed, left flowers at the scene with a card reading: “To Mum. RIP”.

The collision occurred after the bus collided with a number of stationary cars and a lamppost before crashing into a Sainsbury supermarket, Xinhua quoted the police as saying.

He has been reported as being Kailash Chander, former mayor of Leamington but this has not been confirmed by Stagecoach who said they will not speculate on the cause of the crash until full investigations are complete. In this case, our driver has many years’ experience and has also passed a mandatory annual medical. You did not deserve to die like this.

Stagecoach Midlands said the bus involved was the 17.33 X18 service from Coventry to Leamington.

And police are now making a renewed plea for witnesses to come forward, no matter how little information they have.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said the nine-year-old girl had injuries to her face, head and right leg and suspected chest, abdominal and pelvic injuries.

“We hope to carry out a swift investigation and I would like to thank people who have already come forward who witnessed the collision”.

The unnamed man said: “He is a polite, kind man who has done a lot for the community – he was a former town mayor”.

The 34-year-old charity worker, who saw the bus driver being lifted out of the vehicle, said: “I was in the self-service check-outs and everyone’s attention immediately went towards the exit doors”. This tragedy will stay with him for ever’.

Witnesses described a scene of carnage, with passengers clambering out of broken windows and the bus driver pulled from the wreckage by onlookers.

Ebony told the Coventry Telegraph: “If the man hadn’t shouted at us to run, we wouldn’t have moved and we would have been hit”.

A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said: “I can confirm that earlier this evening a bus mounted the pavement in Trinity Place, stopping when it made contact with the store”.