Tree crushes bus and van injuring six people in high winds
'I was just preparing for the hit. I took a deep breath and just "bang".'
Six people have been injured after a tree crashed down onto a busy road during high winds.
The tree landed on top of a bus and a van on Guildford Road in Horsham, West Sussex, just before 1pm on Monday.
Six people were treated for injuries at the scene, and three of them were then taken to hospital.
The tree primarily landed on a grey van. Its front was caved in and its windscreen and windows were shattered, leaving glass scattered across the road.
However it also hit a bus – and the driver of the van said if the bus driver had braked ‘two or three seconds later’ his injuries could have been much worse.
Mate Nagy, who received back and elbow injuries, told the BBC: ‘I was just preparing for the hit. I took a deep breath and just “bang”.
‘All the glass was flying into us, into our mouths.’
The road was temporarily closed while both vehicles were recovered and the tree removed, but it has since reopened.
Metrobus operations director Gordon Frost said: ‘Due to high winds, a tree fell onto a moving vehicle at Farthings Hill, Horsham.’
A Sussex Police spokesperson said: ‘Emergency services were called at around 12.45pm on Monday, February 26 to reports of a tree having fallen and hit a bus and a van in Guildford Road, Horsham.
‘The road was temporarily closed while both vehicles were recovered, and the tree was removed.’
The tree fell amid high winds as the Met Office had put in place a yellow weather warning for rain covering parts of the south east of England.
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