Deadly bus crash: driver accidentally pressed down on accelerator

The female driver of the Carris Metropolitana bus involved in Tuesday’s fatal crash at Agualva-Cacém transport terminal near Lisbon may have accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake after losing her balance while correcting the vehicle’s electronic route display.

This is the gist of reports today, following earlier insinuations that the bus itself had a series of faults, connected to the brake system, that had already been reported.

The crash, which killed two women and injured 22 others, is now being investigated by Portugal’s Judicial Police (PJ). If investigators conclude that human error caused the tragedy, the driver, described in some reports as ‘experienced’, could face two counts of negligent homicide.

According to CNN Portugal, the 28-year-old driver told authorities she accidentally accelerated after becoming unbalanced while attempting to correct the route number displayed on the front of the bus before pulling out of the packed, and notoriously chaotic, underground terminal.

Passenger reportedly alerted driver to wrong route number

The accident occurred shortly before 9.30am at one of the busiest sections of the Agualva-Cacém bus and rail interchange in the municipality of Sintra.

The Route 1222 bus had arrived at Platform 5 inside the terminal tunnel and was preparing to begin its next journey when, according to CNN Portugal, a passenger pointed out that the route number shown on the electronic destination display was incorrect.

As the driver attempted to change the display, she is believed to have lost her balance and inadvertently pressed the accelerator, causing the bus to lurch forward uncontrollably before crashing into a concrete pillar where several pedestrians were waiting.

Two women standing beside the pillar were fatally struck

The victims have been identified as a 60-year-old Portuguese woman and an 18-year-old woman from Cape Verde, originally from Santa Cruz on Santiago Island.

Driver treated for shock

The driver was treated at the scene after suffering severe shock and was described as being “extremely distressed”.

While this account has reportedly been given both to investigators and to Carris Metropolitana, the driver had not been formally interviewed by Judicial Police investigators as of yesterday evening.

Authorities are examining all the circumstances surrounding the crash, including whether the terminal layout or other contributing factors played a role.

Local bus users told Portuguese television stations that the disaster had been “an accident waiting to happen” – criticising the design of the interchange and the location of bus stops inside a tunnel, which they said complicated emergency response efforts.

All injured passengers discharged

All of the injured have now been released from hospital.

The Amadora-Sintra Local Health Unit (ULS) said 15 casualties were treated at Amadora-Sintra Hospital following the crash.

One patient was classified as “very urgent” under the Manchester Triage System, seven as urgent and seven as less urgent.

By 8pm on Tuesday, 12 of the 15 patients had been discharged, while three remained under observation in the hospital’s emergency department. These three were later also discharged.

Hospital officials said medical, nursing and support teams continued to provide care for the remaining patients and assistance to affected families.

The hospital’s board has also expressed its “deep solidarity” with the victims and their relatives as the investigation into one of Portugal’s deadliest recent public transport accidents continues.

Source material: LUSA/ SIC Notícias