Double decker bus crashes into shop in London, traps passengers

Emergency services at the scene in Lavender Hill, southwest London, after a bus left the road and hit a shop. Photo / Getty Images

Passengers are trapped on the top deck of a London bus which crashed into a kitchen shop on a busy high street today, sparking morning rush hour chaos.

Police said there were "casualties" after the crash on the A3036 in Battersea, South West London, with two fire engines and three fire rescue units sent to the scene, the Daily Mail reported.
Firefighters with cutting gear were trying to rescue two women trapped on the top deck of the bus, but added that the passengers were 'both conscious and breathing'.

Paramedics said they had treated six patients and remain on scene. Officers were called just before 7am today to reports of a bus hitting a building on Lavender Hill.

Photographs and videos posted on social media showed the vehicle on the pavement and smashed into the front of the Poggen Pohl Kitchen Design Centre.

Glass could be seen shattered across the ground and paramedics were tending to people on the top deck of the number 77 double-decker bus.

Police said paramedics had treated "a number of passengers" and the bus driver had been taken to a hospital in South London.

Local resident Brendan Pfahlert said the smash near the commuter hub of Clapham Junction train station "sounded like a large amount of glass being dropped'"

Witness Matthew Corner‏ tweeted: "Bus crash on Lavender Hill looked awful. Hoping no one is badly hurt. Emergency services doing an excellent job. Lavender Hill."

The crash caused traffic chaos, with witness Maude Grant saying Lavender Hill was "at a standstill' and emergency services were 'trying to get people off the bus".

London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and the Metropolitan Police are in attendance, with Wandsworth officers tweeting that a bus "has gone into a building".

The force advised people to "avoid" Lavender Hill, tweeting: "Road will be closed for some time, we have reports of casualties. Unable to confirm severity at this time."

London Fire Bridge tweeted: "Two fire engines and three fire rescue units are at the scene of a bus which has crashed into a shop in Lavender Hill in Battersea."

The bus crashed into the shop. Photo / Mailonline

A spokesman later added: "We were called at 7am to reports of a bus crashed into a shop front. The shop front has collapsed.

"Two female passengers are trapped on the top deck of the bus, crews are working to free them. The passengers are both conscious and breathing."

The A3036 was blocked with heavy traffic in both directions between the A3207 Falcon Road and A3220 Latchmere Road junctions.

Last October Italian waitress Lucia Ciccioli, 32, was killed just yards away on the same road when she was hit by a lorry while cycling to her new job at a restaurant.

And the same road was also in the news this February when CCTV footage showed the moment a cyclist opened fire on a group of men in broad daylight.