A couple travelling over the Otira Gorge in a house bus had a fright on Saturday, when the brakes failed as they descended the viaduct just below Candys Bend.
The bus crashed into the bank, bounced off it and hit the guardrail - which prevented them from plunging over the cliff and into the ravine and Otira River below. The vehicle then came to rest against the bank.
The driver suffered two broken ribs as the house bus bounced around; his partner was not injured.
The couple had been driving from Christchurch to Greymouth.
