Persons escaped serious injury yesterday after a mini-bus in a bid to avoid hitting a car, toppled and crashed into two lantern posts outside the Walter Rodney Archives on Home Stretch Avenue.

At the scene, officers were controlling the traffic and the Route 48 mini-bus BMM 3236 was still bracing on the lantern post while another in close proximity was leaning. The accident occurred around 8:20 am. The bus was carrying a full load of passengers while two persons were travelling in the car.

The area where the bus ended up was littered with broken glass.

The shaken conductor, Nazeer Khan, managed to recall that the bus was heading to Sophia when a car suddenly drove out of the NCN compound and his driver in an attempt to avoid an accident swerved onto the parapet. Khan said that “the back wheel pitch out,” resulting in the bus toppling before crashing into the posts. He said that most of the passengers made it out of the mangled vehicle on their own but a nurse was crying out for pain.

Meanwhile, Shameer Ali, the driver of the car, PGG 1964 initially refused to speak when approached by this newspaper but later said that while coming out of the NCN compound, the way was clear for him to proceed. He said that he noticed a mini-bus approaching but it hadn’t even reached the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. “He (the bus) was speeding. He was racing another mini bus. There is an officer who saw the whole episode from behind,” Ali added.

An eye witness to the accident said, “This thing happened so fast. Ah never see nothing like this in meh life.” The woman said that two Route 48 mini buses were speeding down the road when a white care drove out of the NCN compound. One of the buses (the one that crashed) as it swerved to avoid a collision she said, toppled once. The other mini bus left the scene shortly after, the woman said.