Runaway truck wheel smashes through bus

Passenger Jimmy McCoskrie was showered with glass from the bus windscreen. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Jimmy McCoskrie was on a bus with his head down reading a book when the windscreen exploded with a loud bang, showering him with glass and forcing him to duck away from an 80kg truck wheel that careered past.

The 24-year-old was on the Waka Pacific bus heading to work at the Auckland City Council when two wheels from a southbound Toll TranzLink truck sheared off the truck's left side.

One wheel went left into the mangroves while the other flew over a median barrier into the bus windscreen. It missed the driver but hit a Vietnamese passenger sitting on the front left side.

He was last night in a critical condition in Auckland City Hospital. Three other passengers were taken to Middlemore Hospital with minor injuries.

The wheel hit a partition before hitting the Vietnamese man, who is aged about 25.

The accident occurred about 7.40am on the Southern Motorway between Otahuhu and Mt Wellington.

"I ducked slightly and, turning my head to the left, I saw a truck wheel rolling quickly down the aisle, hit the stairs next to me which led to the rear of the bus, and rebound back towards the front of the bus," Mr McCoskrie said.

It all happened too quickly for passengers to scream.

Until then, they had been enjoying a faster journey than normal with less traffic on the motorway because of the holidays. "Traffic on both sides of the motorway was flowing freely, meaning the wheel and the bus collided at quite high speed," Mr McCoskrie said.

The bus slowed quickly and when it stopped, he checked on the condition of the other 10 passengers.

"Everyone was fairly shocked. We didn't know what was happening and everyone instinctively ducked."

There was glass all over the floor from the shattered windscreen, leaving some passengers dazed and scratched.

The front partition of the bus was destroyed and the yellow "buzzer" poles on the left-hand side were detached from the roof and lying at weird angles.

"There was a man in the row behind the front seats who appeared to be in pain and was quite dazed. [He may have] been hit by the wheel but had no obvious injuries."

Mr McCoskrie said a Polynesian woman was looking after the Vietnamese man.

"She recovered very quickly from the initial shock and took charge of the situation in a calm and reassuring manner. She asked if anyone knew first aid - no one did - and then asked people to call 111."

Mr McCoskrie said the woman also asked Christians on the bus to pray for the injured man. They did so, but not aloud as most of them had their cellphones out calling emergency services and family.

The injured Vietnamese man had a towel wrapped around his head that was "soaked with blood".

"The left side of his face was also covered in blood." The bleeding appeared to be have been controlled by the towel but he stayed unresponsive, with his eyes closed.

Passengers found it difficult to put him in the prone position on the floor because of the damage to the bus. They moved the truck wheel from the floor by the till and the front door.

Mr McCoskrie dialled 111 but found it hard to hear with everyone talking and the sound of the motorway traffic.

Shaken but unharmed, he finally made it into work, which was one of his first days back after a holiday walking the Abel Tasman Track.

"Everyone was just thankful that the bus was nearly empty because of the holiday period. It would have been a disaster if it was full."additional reporting: Phoebe Falconer