A bus and a minivan collided on the dangerously winding Siumu-end of the Cross Island Road this afternoon.
The bus was coming uphill towards Apia while a rental minivan was heading downhill.
The owner of a white Toyota Pickup truck that was following the bus stopped and took most of the passengers from the bus to the hospital.
By the grace of God, noone from the bus was seriously injured.
The bus driver has been hailed a hero by the passengers on the bus which included a pregnant woman and her three year old son, and an elderly man in his 70s.
“He swerved and managed to stop the bus from tumbling further down the hill..
“He saved us,” one of the passengers told SGN.
Meanwhile inside the minivan, a man in the back seat had a piece of wood from the bus lodged into his shoulder.
The Fire and Emergency Services Authority – FESA team arrived swiftly and acted quickly to remove the victims from the minivan.
“The FESA team were excellent. It was pretty scary seeing the wood sticking out of that man’s arm but the first responders were professional and calm,” said one witness.
“They had the injured stabilized and taken to hospital within minutes and another team helped clear the road,” they added.
The winding Cross Island Road from Apia to Siumu remains a hazard, claiming many victims over the years including buses carrying members of the public falling off the side of the road.
