A brave mum and daughter have told the horror they found as they were the first to rush to the scene of the horrific bus crash outside their home as casualties were strewn across the road
Emergency services in attendance on Barton Lane on Monday(Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
A heroic mother and daughter have told of the moment they were the ‘first people out’ rushing to help victims of a double decker bus crash.
Three people are in hospital for serious injuries after a Bee Network bus ploughed into a low bridge at Barton Lane on Monday (July 21).
The roof of the vehicle, a number 100 bus which was not following its usual route, sliced off on impact with the Bridgewater Canal aqueduct.
The mum and daughter, who wish to remain anonymous, spoke of the nightmarish scene – of the haunting noise, of casualties strewn across the road after being flung from the bus, of having to wash blood off themselves.
But the pair have been left exasperated as they have reported the danger multiple times, but nothing seems to change.
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The brave mum and daughter say they ran out of their home after hearing the smash: “We were at home in the front bedroom, and my daughter looked out the window and saw what had happened.
“The bus had stopped at the top, the roof was on the other side of the bridge.
“It looked like something out of a film. We ran down, all the neighbours were coming out to help and we were shouting for help.
“The first thing we saw when we walked out was this woman in the road on the floor and you knew she’d fallen off the back. It was horrible.
“I ran down to the casualty and put her in the recovery position.
“Then we were helping other people. A nurse came along.
“We then got on the phone and dialled 999, saying it was a major incident.
The pair began to help the scores of others that were injured. “It was quite shocking what we saw yesterday,” they continued.
“There were some walking wounded with glass and head injuries.”
Buses keep crashing into the same aqueduct in Eccles(Image: MEN Media)
The mum and daughter say they looked after people clearly in shock, while they too were being left traumatised.
“We’re the first people who have got to look out and witness this,” said the mother.
“My daughter can see it from her window – people are seriously injured, I don’t want her seeing that.
“The noise went on for a while. It’s grinding and glass smashing and people screaming.
“People on the bus were distraught. Everyone was helping each other.
“It was shortly after 3pm – it was a busy time, the 100 is a busy bus and people were coming home from work and there was a schoolboy on there too which was heartbreaking.
“We went to the nearby pub to buy cans of coke and sugary drinks for people in shock. We had baths cause we had blood on us too.”
But in many ways, this came as no surprise at all to them.
The pair say crashes into the bridge happen so frequently that they can identify what kind of vehicle has collided with the structure just by the noise it makes.
“It happens so frequently we can distinguish what sort of vehicle has hit it,” they add. “We know when it’s a wagon. We know when it’s a bus.
“We can tell from the noise.
“We’ve been out to three bus crashes. There was one in 2019 and one in 2023.”
Images of the aftermath resembled scenes that Barton Lane had already witnessed on three separate occasions over recent years – with many neighbouring residents claiming the real number of vehicles colliding with the bridge is even higher.
The Manchester Evening News has now reported on four double-decker buses smashing into the Bridgewater Canal aqueduct since 2020.
Two collisions came before the Bee Network was rolled out across Salford, with the first involving a Go North West bus on June 12, 2020.
Three passengers suffered minor injuries following the collision, the company said at the time.
Images showed the roof of the bus appeared to be bent backwards following impact with the structure.
A bus involved in a crash in 2020(Image: ABNM Photography)
In 2023, two buses lost their roofs by ploughing into the same bridge in the space of eight months, with the first involving a Diamond bus on April 10. Luckily, no passengers were involved.
Almost eight months later on December 5, 2023, the roof of another bus was trashed at the same spot, this time involving a Bee Network bus three months into the new service’s roll-out.
Again, no passengers were involved.
Monday’s collision was the most severe to take place, with 20 people injured to some extent.
Greater Manchester Police says a 19-year-old woman and two men, one in his 20s and one in his 40s, were seriously injured.
They were taken to hospital, where they remain today (Tuesday) in a stable condition.
Seventeen other people were treated at the scene for less severe injuries, GMP says.
A bus lost its roof on April 10, 2023(Image: Submitted)
But those who live in the area claim there have been many more than just four such crashes. And they are furious that more is not being done to prevent potentially catastrophic consequences.
The mum continued: “I’ve lived here since 2016. That’s the third double decker bus crash I’ve seen. It’s about the tenth time I have been out to help because there’s been a crash.
“I feel I should almost be on the payroll cause we keep having to go out and deal with it.
“We’re phoning up, people keep coming out inspecting the area and nothing seems to change from the last crash.
“The beam with the height restriction hasn’t been put back up.
“That bus shouldn’t have come down this road anyway.
“It’s not just buses that hit it, it’s wagons, cars having to reverse back, nobody seems to do anything. The systems they’ve got in place don’t seem to work, I don’t know whether it’s driver error.
“There used to be metal warning bars that hit the vehicles. People are going, ‘no I’m ok I’ve cleared it!’
“But the bars have been missing for a couple of years, they took the last one down in a bad storm about six years ago.
“Maybe we should have a proper light system. Clearly what is there isn’t working, the signs they’ve got up are obviously not working.
“There’s a lot of blame to be laid somewhere.
“We’re not experts, we’re just the poor people who have to go out, wait with people and try and look after them.”
A bus crashed into the bridge on December 5, 2023(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
The mum and daughter say neighbours are now banding together in frustration.
The mum added: “That’s a national landmark, it’s connected to the aqueduct, it’s supposed to be looked after and protected. When you speak to engineers, they think of Barton Aqueduct like one of the wonders of the world.
“It’s just not been taken care of. You can see how many times it’s been hit.
“The bridge needs a proper inspection. Yesterday was the worst.
“We are going to get together as neighbours and make sure someone listens – get people to come out and do something. It’s taken people getting seriously injured to get something done.
“It’s what we kept saying we didn’t want to happen. Questions need to be asked now about the buses and the service and the training drivers get.
“Hopefully they do something about the bridge but if they do it will be frustrating that it’s taken something this traumatic for so many people in order to change. It will happen again if something doesn’t change.”
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In response to the incident, a Salford City Council spokesperson said of yesterday’s crash: “We are unable to provide specific details at this time due to an ongoing police investigation. Salford City Council and TfGM are fully cooperating with the authorities.
“Initial checks have been undertaken and confirmed that regulatory road signage is present in the area.
“Further measures will be considered, in collaboration with our partners at GMP and TfGM, to enhance signage and improve warning systems to help prevent future accidents.”
Describing the circumstances of yesterday’s crash, a GMP spokesperson explained: “It is believed that the bus had come off its normal expected route.
“The driver fails to comply with height restriction warnings, including hanging chains and signage, and collides with a low-level aqueduct.
“As a result, the top level of the bus is torn off and causes a member of the public to be ejected from the top deck of the bus.”
The bus driver, a man in his 50s, was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by careless driving and has since been bailed pending further investigations.
Vernon Everitt, transport commissioner for Greater Manchester, said: “An immediate and urgent investigation into the circumstances is underway and we are working closely with the investigation team at Greater Manchester Police and the bus operator, Stagecoach.
“This is clearly a distressing situation for everyone involved and we’d like to thank emergency services for their swift response.”
GMP’s serious collision investigation unit is now appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward.
Officers are also keen to speak to anyone who may have any footage, including dashcam, mobile phone or doorbell footage, from the area in the moments leading up to the collision.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 0161 856 4741, quoting log number 2226 of July 21, 2025.
Alternatively, details can be shared on the LiveChat function on GMP’s website or with the independent charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.