EIGHT people have been injured after a double-decker bus carrying Christmas shoppers crashed into a railway bridge in Swansea and sliced the roof off.
Shocked witnesses said the crash looked "really serious" and one person is badly injured while another was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.
A man, 63, thought to be the bus driver, was arrested at the scene.
Alastair Hawkes, 22, a computer science student from Kettering, was on the top deck when the crash happened.
He said: "It was a shocking moment for me because I usually sit at the front of the bus and I could have been dead.
"I was reading on my phone when there was a sudden stop, and I was thrown forward. There was a crunching of glass.
"There was a lady who was cut out, she was bleeding heavily and flown to hospital in Cardiff.
"I think there were three injured – somebody else was bleeding badly and an older gentleman was shaken, in shock. We thought he passed out."
Tom Evans, who works near to the scene of the crash, said it looked like "a tin opener had taken the top of the bus off".
He arrived on the scene shortly after the crash and said he believed the bus driver had misjudged the height of a railway bridge and tried to drive under it.
He added: "I heard it and went out soon after. Police were there quickly, cordoning it off. It's now a no-go area."
A man who works nearby said the crash looked "really serious".
He added: "We heard an almighty bang and all thought it was thunder because it's raining, but then we saw an ambulance, we thought somebody's crashed on the M4 but then, no, they're outside.
"We ran outside and saw the bus and we could see anyone who would have been on the top deck at the front, well it would be really serious…it was destroyed."
BUS SMASH
Emergency services are on the scene following the crash on Neath Road in Swansea just before 9.40am this morning.
Bus firm First Cymru said a full investigation had been launched.
Managing director Andrew Sherrington said: "We can confirm one of our vehicles operating Service 10 between Swansea University Singleton Campus and Swansea Bay University Campus has been involved in a collision with a bridge, which has resulted in a number of passengers sustaining injuries.
"We've immediately dispatched a support team and launched a full investigation to establish the circumstances that has led to this collision, and are assisting South Wales Police with their enquiries.
"Everyone at First Cymru is shocked by this incident and our heartfelt sympathies go out to those injured."
As well as students, the bus was carrying fare-paying passengers into the city centre.
Four people were taken to Swansea's Morriston Hospital, one with serious injuries, two were sent to Neath Port Talbot's minor injuries unit and another person was airlifted to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff with life-threatening injuries.
Around 20 passengers were led off the bus and into a nearby social club.
Terry Edkins, secretary of Landore Social Club, said: "There are about 20 people at the social club having teas and coffees. The ones at the club are a bit shaken but OK.
"It's never happened before. There's never been a double-decker coming down there."
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "We and our fellow emergency services are currently in attendance at a road traffic collision involving a bus and a bridge in Neath Road, Swansea.
"We are asking motorists to avoid the area while this incident is ongoing."
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