Bus full of Boston schoolchildren has lucky escape after falling into 6-foot hole in the road at Swineshead

A bus carrying passengers including schoolchildren had a lucky escape after the road opened up beneath it.
The hole in SwinesheadThe hole in Swineshead
The hole in Swineshead

The incident happened yesterday (Wednesday) evening in Swineshead at around 4.30pm.

The K59 service, which was taking children home from Boston Grammar School and Boston High School, started to sink into the ground as the six foot deep hole opened up under it.

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The Brylaine bus had just pulled in to drop a student off in High Green Road, Swineshead, when its back end began to sink as the road began to collapse.

The hole in SwinesheadThe hole in Swineshead
The hole in Swineshead

Brylaine operations director Malcolm Wheatley said only the frame of the bus stopped the back end from falling right into the hole.

“The road just opened up like a sinkhole. I presumed when I was contacted that the driver had parked on a drainage grid or something, but when we got there we found the hole was extremely large, about five foot in diameter.

“When we got the bus lifted out, there was a huge void underneath the hole which was 12ft in each direction.”

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He said he understood the road was now closed while the road was being repaired.

He praised the reaction of the people on the bus who stayed calm, and said the bus was not damaged.

“Fortunately there were no injuries. It could have been a lot worse,” said Mr Wheatley.

The local highways manager said: "A section of South Street has collapsed, with the void extending across the carriageway.

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"The road has been closed. Anglian Water and British Gas have been contacted and will be inspecting the site.

"Once that investigation has concluded, we'll have a clearer idea of what works are necessary to repair the road and how long that might take. In the meantime, motorists will need to use an alternative route."

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