Juan Ameen
Empty bus crashes into house after driver gets out feeling sick
An empty Arriva bus went seriously off route yesterday when it rolled down a road and crashed into the front door of a disused house seconds after the driver got out because he was feeling unwell.
The 45-year-old driver had stopped his bus, which was in service but was carrying no passengers, in Triq il-Gardiel, Marsascala. Witnesses told The Times he looked extremely pale and felt sick by the side of the road.
The vehicle, however, kept on going. It hit a pavement, crossed the road and crashed into a house owned by the Bonnici family.
On impact the vehicle’s mirror and windscreen were smashed and two large fissures opened up in the façade of the house stretching from the front door to the first floor. The structure seemed to have been pushed slightly to the left as slabs from a nearby low wall fell out of place.
Mary Joan Bonnici, 47, said she was out shopping in her hometown of Tarxien when she received an urgent phone call from her son who told her to call her brother urgently.
“They told me that a bus had crashed into my mother ’s house. I just dropped what I was doing and left,” she said.
When she and her husband arrived in front of her 82-year-old mother ’s house, they were shocked to see the side of a bus wedged into the front door.
“A person saw it happen ... He saw the driver looking really unwell by the side of the road and ran after the bus to try and stop it,” she said.
The house has been empty since 2005 after her mother moved out. A shaken Mrs Bonnici said: “God forbid she was still at home, or her sister, who used to love sitting outside on the doorstep when there was a bit of sunshine.”
The police were called in and the driver taken to a medical clinic. Two iron supports were installed to shore up the structure and the house was examined by experts appointed by the insurance company. An Arriva official picked up a pane of glass and the vehicle’s side mirror that had fallen off.
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15 Comments
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Joseph Ellul
Jan 21st, 00:21
This accident make me wonder if these buses are actually decommisioned ones from the UK as they might not be up to new standards of safety.
Note: Is there a conspiracy here ?
Do we need a commision to investigate ?
Is this a start of another can of worms for Gonzi ?
The taxpayer has a right to know.
Joe Xuereb
Jan 19th, 23:20
@Charles Demicoli. Quote: 'May God forbid that this happens'. I think the word should be 'happen' (may requires the subjunctive as in Italian, French, etc.). 'So BE it' is another common example (meaning, 'so it should BE). Alternatively, 'may god forbid that this should HAPPEN' makes it clearer, I think (these finer points make the English language not so simple after all).
Alla ħares is, of course, Alla jħares. These colloquialisms frequently occur in Maltese. Another classis is 'l-ewwel jien hu Alla sidek'. Often people took this to mean 'l-ewwel jien u Alla sidek' often used to mean 'god and myself first and the rest can sod off'. Which rather turns the intended meaning on its head. In Alla ħares, of course a ghost(ħares) does not come into it at all. The correct word is 'iħares' meaning to keep safe, away from danger, etc. To look after. Made clear in such sentences as 'Alla jħarisna minn dan il-gwaj' where it is clear that no ghosts or spirits are implied.
I have been away from Malta more than fifty years and I enjoy immensely these little forays into my mother tongue. Thank you. (After all that, I hope I am right).
Nittamaw li x-xufier tal-karozza tal-linja jiġi f'siktu mill-aktar fiss. U niżżgħu ħajr 'l Alla li ma kien hemm ħadd jixxemmex għall-affari tiegħu(tagħha?)fuq il-għatba tal-bieb ta' barra. Forsi anke zzekzek fuq in-nies ma' dik ta' ma' ġembha kif jagħmlu l-Maltin u n-nies tad-dinja kollha kemm hi. Kulħadd irid jgħid tiegħu ibda' wieħed minni!
M. Cauchi
Dec 15th 2011, 18:38
Get well soon Mr. Driver...
Mr John Borg
Dec 15th 2011, 15:05
Anyone heard about a gadget called a hand brake??
Or Chinese busses come without them to save on costs?
Joseph Ellul
Jan 21st, 00:16
What is a hand brake ? New buses have only brake and gas pedal with the auto gear change. Safety auto brake come on only when the engine is off. If the driver left the bus and left the engine on with gear shift in neutral or still on gear, then the bus will move, especially if on a slope.
Modern buses should have "vacant seat" switch. As soon as the driver gets off, the seat bounces up and the engine stops, but since Malta has all the bouncy roads, these switches most probably have been bypassed. If the new busses are to EU standards then there is a shortcut somewhere and this is not funny.
Ms Lisa Camilleri
Jan 21st, 11:26
He forgot it hux!!!! Happens to man people even if they're not sick...let alone if he was feeling ill!
M. Zarb
Dec 15th 2011, 11:23
“God forbid she was still at home, or her sister, who used to love sitting outside on the doorstep when there was a bit of sunshine.”
I appreciate the effort gone into translating this directly from the Maltese "Alla hares!".. but it's not gramatically relevant or correct.
Charles DeMicoli
Dec 15th 2011, 15:59
Actually, the way this expression was used is colloquially OK. God forbid or heaven forbid is an idiom, perhaps american in origin: "May God forbid that this happens".
It is very commonly used in everyday conversation, sometimes sarcastically, "God forbid he should lift a finger to help", "God forbid he should say anything positive about things Maltese", etc.
"God forbid that he should be humane, should love, or pity, or think of what is just and unjust."
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
"God forbid that we should ever turn back to those times; that's what I say, Jerry."
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.
(God forbid google wasn't around, I wouldn't have been able to find these quotations)
R. Lewis
Dec 17th 2011, 17:17
@M.Zarb. If as you are saying it was translated directly from the Maltese "Alla hares" it would have been written that "God is a ghost" and the way it was actually written makes sense.
Victor Boyde
Jan 20th, 13:12
To Mr Charles DeMicoli, get a life. As for the driver, I am glad that he was not injured however, making the vehicle safe was his responsibility no matter how ill he was. The bus crossed the road before hitting that house and GOD WILLING no one was in its path.
Albert Bezzina
Dec 15th 2011, 09:04
Door to door service!
Anne Farrugia
Dec 15th 2011, 10:47
Oh Please! The poor man felt sick, it could have been you in your private car! Just think a little bit of that Mr Albert Bezzina!
M Farrugia
Dec 15th 2011, 12:02
l-aqwa li nippruvaw nitfaw dell ikrah fuq l-arriva. NIes li jikkummentaw dwar incidenti bhal dawn bis-sarkazmu huma nies bla qalb jew b'qalb xirfa lejn il-haddiema u mhux lejn il-kumpanija. Jista ikun sforz l-injoranza ukoll
Albert Bezzina
Dec 15th 2011, 14:31
@Anna Farrugia
No disrespect was intended to the driver!
With the road conditions I have to drive in I assure you Ms Anne Farrugia that I feel sick in my private car all the time!
Albert Bezzina
Dec 15th 2011, 14:37
@ Anne Farrugia
PS, Go to:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111214/local/bus-crashes-into-house-in-marsascala.398342
Seems my comment above was already used yesterday. You may have some more admonitions to hand out.