Jersey teacher in near miss after tree rips roof off bus

Wednesday 20 February 2019

A Jersey-born teacher was left “very shaken” after narrowly avoiding serious injury when a tree ripped the roof off a bus she was travelling on.

Sophie Burch (28), a former JCG student who works as a secondary school languages teacher in West Sussex, was travelling on a rail replacement bus from Haywards Heath to Three Bridges yesterday morning when the tree struck the vehicle just inches from where she was sitting.

It smashed through the upper deck’s windscreen and caused severe damage to the bus’s exterior.

Fortunately, just two of the ten people on board were injured and had to attend hospital, while Sophie managed to avoid harm by quickly moving out of the way.

She was, however, “shaken” by the experience, which left her “covered in glass and tree”.

Pictured: Sophie captured the aftermath of the crash on camera.

She told Express: “We were… going down one of the country lanes (Balcombe Road). I was sat in the second seat back on the left side of the top deck.

“It felt like the driver was going too fast and the branches tapping on the windscreen were getting louder, which I thought sounded a bit weird.

"Next thing I knew the whole of the roof was ripped off, but I managed to duck out the way.”

Pictured: Sophie was sitting just inches from where the tree struck, but fortunately ducked away.

Along with the other passengers on the top deck, Sophie then “rushed” downstairs, but said the driver and other passengers “hadn’t realised what had happened”.

“[The driver] then pulled into a layby and they sent another bus along,” she recalled.

Paramedics and Police then arrived shortly after 09:00. Two women aged 27 and 61 were hurt, with a facial injury and "minor knee injury" respectively. The older woman was later taken to East Surrey Hospital for further treatment.

If you were around the #Balcombe area on Tuesday morning and saw a bus hit a tree on the #B2036 or the events leading up to it, please let us know. https://t.co/JTXpX4S2Yv pic.twitter.com/kM0iTViw4C

— Sussex Roads Police (@SussexRoadsPol) February 19, 2019

Police have since launched an appeal for more information about what happened, while rail service provider Govia Thameslink have launched their own investigation.

Speaking yesterday, a Govia Thameslink Railway spokesperson said: "I can confirm that a rail replacement bus hit a tree south of Balcombe station this morning. It was travelling along the same route that has been used since the works began on Saturday. The emergency services have attended.

“There were up to 10 people on board. We have had senior management on site to help and assist those who were on board and we sent another bus to help passengers continue their journey."

Very scary experience this morning - feeling very shaken. Thank you to kind members of public on board and staff at #threebridges for looking after me!

— Sophie Burch (@sophie_burch) February 19, 2019

The operator emailed Sophie last night to offer a refund and free rebook, but the linguist says she isn't too keen to have another bus journey for a while.

On social media, she praised the staff and members of the public who offered help and support in the wake of the accident. 

"Very scary experience this morning - feeling very shaken. Thank you to kind members of public on board and staff at Three Bridges for looking after me!"