Victoria bus station: Pedestrian dies after TfL bus crashes into shelter

A pedestrian was mowed down and killed by a bus in front of horrified rush hour commuters at one of London's busiest stations.

A large section of Victoria Station was cordoned off by police tape while black tarpaulins covered the actual crash scene.

It is understood the bus crashed into a shelter at the station.

The Met Police attended along with officers from British Transport Police and the London ambulance service at 9am on Monday morning.

Despite the efforts of London Ambulance Service paramedics, the pedestrian was pronounced dead at 9.26am.

Police say they are working to trace the pedestrian’s next of kin.

The bus station will remain closed while the collision is investigated but the railway station is not affected.

The Met Police said in a statement: “The driver of the bus has been conveyed to hospital by the London ambulance service. The bus station remains closed but there are no other road closures in place. The British Rail station remains unaffected.

“Specialist police traffic investigators are on scene and an investigation into the circumstances of the collision has commenced.”

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family and friends of the person who was tragically killed in a collision with a bus at Victoria this morning.

“TfL is assisting with the investigation into what happened, and there is support available for those affected by this awful tragedy.”

Aaliyah, 21, who works in the Scribbles store near the scene, said: “I didn’t hear anything which is strange because it happened right outside.

“I didn’t realise anything had happened until I saw the ambulances arrive and thought ‘Wow! That is a lot’.

“It is not uncommon to see ambulances around here, but the number was quite shocking. We couldn’t see anything because of our window displays.”

Myra, who works at the nearby Superdrug store, said: “Customers have been coming in all morning and asking us what has happened.

"They don’t understand how we didn’t see anything, but we are working so we can’t look up.

“It is as if they are trying to keep it from us.”

When she heard that someone had been killed in the accident she was in shock, adding: “We thought that there was a fire because we saw the fire engines.

"We were getting ready thinking that we were going to be evacuated.”

A London ambulance service spokesperson said: “We sent some resources, including two ambulance crews and a medic in a fast-response car. We also dispatched London’s air ambulance. We treated three people at the scene.

“A person was taken to hospital and another patient was assessed and discharged. Unfortunately, despite our teams’ best efforts, a person was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Glynn Barton, Transport for London's chief operating officer, said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the person who was tragically killed following a collision with a bus in Victoria this morning. 

“This will have been a deeply distressing incident for everyone involved and we have support available for those affected. TfL and the operator RATP are assisting the police with their investigation.”