Witnesses heard "loud bang" as double decker veered onto path

The incident occurred after the female Bus Éireann driver – who may have suffered a medical incident – drove onto North Earl Street, a pedestrianised street adjoining ­O’Connell Street, instead of making a turn.

She is understood to have lost control of the vehicle, which mounted the footpath during a busy lunchtime period. Investigating gardaí are treating the crash as an accident with no third-party involvement.

Gardaí [Irish police] confirmed that one man was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 12.30 pm and that "three adults were conveyed to hospital for treatment of injuries of various severity".

The pedestrian who died was in his 80s. A second man, in his 20s, is being treated in hospital for serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the bus, a woman in her 50s, and another woman in her 30s are being treated in the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

A Bus Éireann spokesman confirmed "one of our vehicles was involved in a serious collision", adding: "We are deeply saddened to confirm a fatality has occurred as a result of this incident, and that a number of people have also sustained injuries… Bus Éireann is offering its full support to the relevant authorities as their investigations continue."

The double-decker 103 route bus, which links Dublin to Ratoath, Co. Meath, was not in service at the time of the incident and had no passengers on board, Bus Éireann confirmed. It’s believed the vehicle was returning to a depot at the time. The bus struck bollards and a lamppost before coming to a stop with a smashed windscreen on the popular shopping street.

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Emergency services responding to a serious road traffic incident in Dublin city centre this afternoon, after a Bus Éireann double-decker struck pedestrians at the junction of North Earl Street and Marlborough Street.

 Over 20 paramedics and four ambulances attended the scene, as well as four tenders from Dublin Fire Brigade with heavy-duty rescue tools to attempt to remove a man caught under the bus.

Gardaí established a cordon at the scene, erected a tent around the crash site and quickly cleared the area. A senior Garda source told Extra.ie that the incident is being treated as an accident and that the driver was assessed by a medical team at scene to determine whether she had ­succumbed to a medical issue prior to the crash.

A rigorous investigation of the bus itself is also set to take place to determine if a mechanical fault may have contributed to the crash.

Speaking to Extra.ie at the scene, one witness described how she had heard the crash and saw ‘two or three people’ injured.

"We just heard a loud bang," said the 20-year-old hairdressing student, who was in a premises metres from the scene.

"I was in Peter Mark hairdressing college and came outside and there was man under the bus. It was a big shock. It’s frightening, it was so close. You could have been out for a coffee and been hit, it’s scary. I’m worried for the people involved."

Another individual at the scene, a man in his late 50s, said the incident was "shocking" and that "it could have been worse only for the rain earlier made more people stay indoors".

A Garda spokesman stated that a senior investigating officer has been appointed to lead the inquiry from an incident room at Store Street Garda Station.

Any individuals with footage of the scene have been asked to make it available to gardaí.

Mayor of Dublin Ray McAdam told Extra.ie at the scene that his thoughts were with the deceased and those injured.

Tánaiste Simon Harris said he was "deeply saddened and shocked" by the crash.

Watch the RTE News report on the incident here:

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.