The Courier-Mail morning blog: weather, traffic, transport

POLICE have released details of a woman who died following an incident involving a bus in Brisbane’s CBD this morning.

• Newman slammed for bus crash tweet

POLICE have confirmed the woman who died after colliding with a bus in Brisbane’s CBD this morning was a 51-year-old from Samford Valley.

Senior Sergeant Simon Tayler said police received a phone call just after 7am today to say there had been an incident involving a pedestrian and a bus on the corner of Ann and Wharf streets. “Unfortunately now we can confirm it has been a fatality,” he said this morning. “It’s very early on in the investigation. THE MORNING BLOG HAS FINISHED SCROLL DOWN TO SEE HOW IT UNFOLDED “We have our forensic crash investigation specialists here and the investigation continues. “There will be some massive traffic delays in and around the city and we’re asking people as much as they can to please avoid the area,” he said this morning. Traffic congestion had eased by 10.30am but minor delays remained. “At this stage it’s too early on to go into details. As you can imagine there was a large number of witnesses. They’ve all been interviewed. “We’ll have our forensic crash specialists go through it. “It’s a timely reminder for everyone … pedestrians are our most vulnerable road users and we want people to take that extra bit of time to make sure everyone’s safe getting to and from work.” A police statement issued at 8.30am said preliminary information suggests the woman was crossing Ann Street near the intersection of Wharf Street just before 7am when the incident occurred. Snr Sgt Tayler said the bus driver was being supported. It’s not known whether there was anybody else on the bus. A woman who was working nearby to where the accident occurred, said while you could usually hear accidents at the intersection, this morning’s incident was silent. “There was no yells, no screams,” she said. The woman said her husband told her not to look in that direction. “I just saw people run over,” she said. The woman, who asked not to be named, also said she saw a bus parked on a strange angle. She said there was no sound and the only panic was from people assisting with CPR. It was only when the ambulances were called she heard the noise. The incident caused major congestion around the CBD and on arterial roads leading into the city centre. The traffic delays caused former premier Campbell Newman to take a swipe at police, saying their response had created traffic chaos. “There must be a better way for the Qld Police to deal with a tragic pedestrian death than to shut down the entire northern side of Brisbane and create total and utter chaos extending more than 5km from the CBD,” Mr Newman tweeted. He has since been slammed for his tweet, with one saying it “confirms total lack of emotional intelligence”. lack of emotional intell osterholm slamming newman — Jacob Miley

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