Rowing trip wrecked by bus smash

Warwick Rowing Club’s annual trip to France was almost wrecked when their double-decker coach ploughed into a low-lying bridge near Rouen.

Four people were believed to have received minor injuries in the accident, which caused extensive damage to the top deck of the bus, and French police were forced to investigate the incident, which took place around 5am (GMT) on 11 December 2010.

The driver, working for Thandi Coaches in Birmingham, came to a low-lying bridge, and attempted to go under it with disastrous consequences.

One passenger described the events: “Most people were asleep… next thing you know all the lights went off, all you could hear was this cracking… I was sitting in the fourth row back (on the top deck).

“Basically the bus had kind of ridged in the middle, the chassis had bent, the roof was sloping forwards… Everyone was freaking out… One girl was crying. A few at the front were covered in shattered plastic glass.”

Injuries were confined to cuts and bruises and, as pictures reveal, the roof had not been crushed significantly enough to seriously endanger passengers.

Everyone was evacuated from the bus after a delay of an hour, and a replacement bus was ordered so the party could continue on their trip.

One member of the group saw it in a more light-hearted perspective, saying that “from the outside it was actually quite funny”.

In addition to the crash, the delay in finding a replacement coach took far longer than expected. A fresh bus was due to arrive 13 hours later, at 6pm, only to arrive at 10pm, a further four hours later than expected.

The rowing group were left to their own devices, waiting in a nearby shopping centre. One party member called the trip “a disaster from start to finish”.

The Rowing Club exec are considering taking the matter further and are understood to be seeking compensation through legal proceedings. Consequently, many people previously prepared to speak to the Boar have now chosen not to do so.

Little is confirmed as yet, and the club President, Ivan Indilo, has refused to issue a statement until “we clarify the matter with the parties involved”.

Thandi Coaches representatives had not responded to questions about the accident at the time of publication.