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MAN ARRESTED AFTER BUS OVERTURNS
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| With thanks to Bournemouth Helicopters |
A MAN has been arrested after an accident that saw an open top double-decker bus overturn at Studland this morning.
Many of the 30 on board were sitting on the top deck and 15 of them were thrown from the vehicle as it toppled down an embankment following a collision on Ferry Road at 10.15am.
Incredibly just six passengers, including children, were injured and none of the 30 or so on board suffered life-threatening injuries, with a 61-year-old woman with a broken arm the worst casualty. By 5.45pm on Thursday everyone has been released from hospital.
Sgt Nikki Burt, of Ferndown traffic unit, said: "They're very lucky people. It takes us a while to get here and all the while you're thinking people thrown from an open-top bus' - we were fearing serious injuries."
The ambulance service had earlier said 25 people were injured, and it was originally reported that some of the injuries were serious.
Two cars, a Porsche, travelling towards Studland, and a red Volkswagen Golf, which was following the bus, were also involved in the collision. The male driver of the Porsche was treated for cuts and bruises and a family of four in the Volkswagen were airlifted to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, but were also thought to have suffered only cuts and bruises.
Emergency services flooded the debris-strewn scene, with pieces of both cars and the bus covering the road. Studland Ferry was closed to non-emergency vehicles, and the B3351 Corfe Castle to Studland Road and the Studland to Swanage road from Ulwell were also closed.
Station manager Angus Nairn, of Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, said: "It's very lucky because where the bus has rolled it's rolled onto soft ground and the casualties that were thrown clear were thrown onto soft ground."
Six passengers, described as walking wounded, were taken to accident and emergency at Poole Hospital.
Some 20 bus passengers were taken to Knoll House Hotel, Studland, where there were seen by paramedics. Most had no injuries.
Eighteen were taken back to Swanage in a mini bus provided by the hotel, and the remaining two continued their journey on a replacement bus.
The coastguard helicopter carried out a heat-seeking search to see if anyone had been thrown from the bus and not accounted for.
The bus ended up on its side down a slight embankment on the side of the road.
Accident investigators spent most of Thursday at the scene combing it for clues as to what happened.
The driver of the Porsche, a 43-year-old man from Wimborne, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of having committed a road traffic offence.
Witnesses are asked to contact Dorset Police on 01202 222222.
Click here for full traffic updates in Studland
Click here to view a gallery of the incident
See Friday's Echo for four-pages of coverage of this incident.
6:30am Friday 1st August 2008
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