Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

London bus crash: Woman dead and three injured after car collides with National Express coach

Witnesses heard saying vehicles ‘exploded’

Andy Gregory
Sunday 22 December 2019 13:56 GMT
Firefighters tackle burning vehicles after head-on crash between coach and car in London

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A 26-year-old woman has been killed and three others injured after a head-on crash between a National Express coach and a small car in southwest London.

The vehicles were engulfed in flames after they collided in the early hours of Sunday morning on Queenstown Road, in Battersea.

The rear-seat passenger of the grey Volkswagen Polo car died at the scene and the female driver is in a critical condition, said the Metropolitan Police, which is investigating the incident.

In footage circulating on social media, police and ambulance crews can be seen trying to dampen the flames and rescue people from inside.

Witnesses can be heard saying the vehicles “exploded” after crashing into each other.

Images show the car to have been a Zipcar rental vehicle, which can be hired by the hour.

One passenger on the A3 service from Gatwick to London Victoria was taken to hospital, while all other passengers were safely transferred to a replacement vehicle, a National Express spokesman said.

“Emergency services attended the scene and we will continue to provide every assistance with the ongoing investigation,” they said. “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the occupant of the car, who sadly passed away.”

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said that despite the “best efforts of our medics, one patient sadly died at the scene”.

“We took a second patient to a major trauma centre as a priority. We treated two further patients for minor injuries: we took one of them to hospital and the other was discharged at the scene.”

The Metropolitan Police is appealing for witnesses to aid its investigation. Road closures remain in place at the time of writing.

Additional reporting by PA

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in