Passenger describes being aboard terrifying bus crash in central Geelong

A Geelong man aboard the bus that ploughed through trees before coming to a stop when it hit traffic lights has told how he thought the crash had killed the driver.

A passenger involved in a horror bus crash that occurred after the driver passed out during a medical episode has recounted the terrifying moments leading up to impact.

Hayden Formosa was sitting towards the rear of the McHarry’s bus when it careered through the intersection of Ryrie and Garden streets in East Geelong just after 6pm on Thursday.

The damage to the bus was extensive.

The bus, which narrowly missed Geelong High School’s Shenton Theatre, only came to a halt after it took out the traffic lights.

“I noticed the light was red at the intersection and we started going faster and faster,” Mr Formosa said.

“The bus went off the road up the gutter, took out the power pole, then took out a massive tree, then the traffic lights. I was shocked.”

Hayden Formosa has told of the moment he was involved in a serious bus crash. Source: Facebook.

Four people, including the driver, were taken to Geelong hospital.

All had been discharged by Friday morning.

In a statement, McHarry’s general manager David Doig confirmed the driver suffered a medical episode.

“McHarry’s regrets the incident involving one of its drivers and buses that occurred on Ryrie Street,” he said.

“The entire McHarry’s organisation puts employee and public safety as its number one priority.

“As such, we are working with all authorities to understand the cause of the incident.”

Emergency services were fast on the scene.

Mr Formosa said he was fortunate to be sitting at the back of the bus because “most of the people sitting up the front went in ambulances”.

“I thought the bus driver was dead from the impact, until I went and checked and he was OK,” he said.

The bus driver had to be freed from his seat, Mr Formosa said.

Police, SES, ambulances and fire vehicles were on the scene quickly and on Friday the clean up continued, with temporary traffic lights in place.

Emergency services worked to clean up the site.

An Ocean Grove man who was driving into the city said people were told that the crash had brought down power lines that remained live for some time, delaying rescue efforts.

A local resident described the intersection was “notoriously dangerous”.

“It wasn’t that long ago that there was another crash and I had to get a child out of the car,” she said.

Many nearby residents were left without power following the crash, with Powercor workers on hand to resolve the outage which was expected to be restored by 2.00pm Friday.

A police spokesman said the exact circumstances of the crash had not yet been determined.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or has information was urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Originally published as Passenger describes being aboard terrifying bus crash in central Geelong