Terrifying moment car engulfed in flames hurtles into a double-decker bus seconds after schoolchildren ran to safety
- The crash happened at 4.50pm on Wednesday in West Dale village, near Halifax
- It is believed the car caught fire while parked before the handbrake failed
This is the terrifying moment a blazing car hurtled into a double-decker bus seconds after schoolchildren fled to safety.
Children and adults feared for their lives in case the bus blew up in the fireball crash, but the engine was located at the other end of the vehicle.
Pupils ran as a police officer dodged the blazing wreckage while it hurtled down West Dale village high street, near Halifax.
The bus had stopped because there was a car on fire, with police closing the road at 4.50pm on Wednesday.
Some footage was captured by a 15-year-old boy who was on the bus on his way home from school to his home in Elland, West Yorkshire.
A blazing car hurtled into a double-decker bus in West Dale village after schoolchildren fled to safety
It is believed the car caught fire while parked and the handbrake then failed, allowing the vehicle to roll into the path of the 503 First Bus.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service sent crews to put out the flames. Footage shows a police officer stood in the closed road.
The flaming car then comes into view, rolling down the road. Men, women and children then scramble out of the carriageway and onto the opposing pavement.
Second later, the car hits the bus head on and explodes in flames.
The bus had pulled over because of the fire ahead and was stationary when the burning car started rolling and crashed into it, according to witnesses at the scene.
The car was blazing from end to end when it left its parking bay and crashed head on into the front of the bus near Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Children and adults feared for their lives in case the bus blew up in the fireball crash, but the engine was located at the other end of the vehicle
One eye witness said: ‘The car was already on fire further up the road. That is why the buses were being held there. The parking brake has failed and car has rolled down into bus.’
Bus passenger Maddison Lewis, 18, who also filmed the incident, said: ‘The bus couldn’t get past because there was a fire in the road so it was evacuated as a safety precaution.
‘So everybody got off the bus and we were all waiting in the middle of the road and filming as the car was on fire. Then all of a sudden it just started coming down the road.
‘I was like ”Oh my God!” It just started flying down the road. When it hit the bus, I thought it was going to blow-up. I thought I was a gonner.
‘I honestly did, I was panicked. Fortunately, the bus engine was at the back of the bus.’
No one is believed to have been hurt in the incident in Rochdale road.
MailOnline has contacted West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service for comment.
