FOUR people were hurt when a bus collided with a car before ploughing into a block of flats.
Hazel Stonehouse, 71, who lives in a ground floor flat in St Michael's Court, Braintree, was at home on Monday afternoon when she heard what she thought was a bomb exploding.
"There was this horrendous bang – like a bomb going off," said the grandmother-of-nine.
"I shot up and I looked out of my window and I could just see a bus embedded in the wall."
Fortunately, the bus, which was carrying three First bus drivers, struck the building at such an angle that it only damaged the building's empty service room, narrowly avoiding Hazel's flat.
The three bus drivers and the driver of the car, a VW Golf, all sustained minor injuries.
"It was such a horrendous noise and the windscreen of the bus had been thrown to outside my window," said Hazel. "We all had to be herded out."
But Hazel's friend and neighbour, Vicky Clark, was at her daughter's house nearby when she heard about the crash. Fearing for her friend's safety she rushed back to see if Hazel was OK.
"My granddaughter called to see if I was OK. I kept saying, 'Hazel, Hazel, I have got to see Hazel,'" she said.
Much to Vicky's relief, Hazel and all the other residents were fine.
Another resident, Lisa Pilcher, 24, was returning home from work when she saw the crash.
"As I rounded the corner I could see blue lights," she said.
"Then I could see the bus and I thought, 'oh that looks a bit close to the building.'
"As I got closer I thought, 'no, that's in the building.
"It was a bit of a shock."
The bus collided with the car at the Notley Road junction.
FirstGroup spokesman Andrew Wheeler said: "There were three people on board – two of which were taken to hospital with minor injuries and the other was a bit shaken. Thankfully there were no major injuries."
A police spokesperson said: "There was a collision with a First Essex bus and a blue VW Golf in St Michael's Road at 4.30pm on Monday.
"We understand that four people sustained minor injuries and the bus was recovered at 7.30pm.
"We are investigating the circumstances behind it."
