Manchester crash: Driver arrested after bus smashes into city centre shop as 12 injured
A bus driver has been arrested after a bus crashed into a shop in Manchester’s city centre, leaving a dozen people injured.
The 64-year-old driver was detained on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Among the wounded was a woman who is in a critical condition and receiving treatment in hospital.
The other people injured are believed to be stable with minor injuries.
It is understood the 12 are pedestrians and passengers on the bus.
Police, fire and ambulance crews were present at the incident in Piccadilly Gardens, as road collision investigators continue to work at the scene.
A spokesperson for North West Ambulance Service confirmed earlier that there were “a number of casualties”.
Photos from the scene show the pavement cordoned off with the bus’s front end inside a bubble tea shop called T4.
Emergency services at the scene of the crash
In a statement, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said: “At around 1pm today, police were called to reports of a collision involving a bus and a shop in Piccadilly Gardens.
“Police alongside colleagues in the North West Ambulance Service and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue have been in attendance.
“There are road closures in the area whilst emergency services remain at the scene dealing with the collision and officers from GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit are in attendance.
“We would ask members of the public to avoid the area where possible whilst officers establish the full circumstances.”
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Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said that two fire engines were sent to the incident on Parker Street in Manchester city centre.
“Crews remain in attendance”, it added.
A spokesperson for North West Ambulance Service said it sent “four ambulances, two senior paramedics, a cycle responder, an operations manager and the Hazardous Area Response Team” to the scene.
A spokesperson for T4 UK Franchise Ltd, said: “T4 UK has today been informed of the bus crash at our newly-opened Manchester store.
“Firstly, we want to wish all of those involved in the crash a speedy recovery, we look forward to welcoming them to our store once fully recovered.
“We will remain closed until we are able to get the store back up on its feet. All staff members are okay although shaken up.”
Paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has died after being attacked in prison.
Watkins, 48, was serving a 29-year jail term for multiple sexual offences, including serious crimes against young children and babies at HMP Wakefield, in West Yorkshire.
He was attacked with a knife by another inmate on Saturday morning, sources have confirmed.
West Yorkshire Police said two men, aged 25 and 43, have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
A police van outside Wakefield prison. Pic: YappApp
Watkins was pronounced dead at the scene after prison staff reported the assault to police.
The prison went into lockdown in the immediate aftermath of the incident, sources added.
A Prison Service spokesperson said they could not comment while the police investigate.
Watkins was previously stabbed in an incident at the same prison in 2023, suffering non life-threatening injuries after he was reportedly taken hostage by three other inmates before being freed by prison officers six hours later.
He was sentenced in December 2013 to 29 years in prison, with a further six years on licence, after admitting 13 sex offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.
Watkins performing in 2004. Pic: PA
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He also encouraged a second fan to abuse her child during a webcam chat and secretly stashed child sexual abuse videos, some of which he had made himself.
At the time, police described him as a “committed, organised paedophile”.
Having found fame in Welsh rock band Lostprophets, Watkins was arrested after his Pontypridd home was searched on orders of a drug warrant in September 2012.
A large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized during the search.
When sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court, the singer was told he was being given an extended sentence – and a judge said his crimes “plumbed new depths of depravity”.
After being caught with a mobile phone behind bars in 2019, he told a court that he was locked up with “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
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