Photo of incident: Jerry Cowie

A 48-year-old woman was injured when an Arriva bus lost control and careened into a stationary vehicle she was in at the Valletta terminus on Monday morning.

Sitting in her armchair, Xiuying Gao held her side, her face contorted in pain. Her husband, John Fenton, plumped up a cushion behind her back.

The couple had just returned to their Sliema home after spending six hours in hospital.

“We’re still in shock, although I’ve calmed down considerably now. It all happened so quickly I still struggle to recall the details,” Mr Fenton, a 75-year-old Briton, said.

The couple had been sitting in a bus serving route 12 as other passengers were still boarding at about 10am.

If there had been any people in the path of the bus before it collided, they would have been dead

Mr Fenton was sitting towards the front of the bus, by the window, with his Chinese wife sitting next to him on the aisle seat.

There were only a couple of other passengers on board and the driver was at the wheel, waiting to punch tickets.

“Suddenly, I heard a woman sitting behind us let out a squawk. Another Arriva bus that was arriving at the terminus lost control, mounted the pavement and collided with our bus.

“My wife was violently thrown across the aisle. She hit one of the seats and fell on to the floor,” Mr Fenton said.

Speaking haltingly, Ms Gao added that she heard her ribs “crack” followed by pain. She remained on the floor as her husband placed a pillow beneath her head and a passenger fanned her face.

Arriva officials called an ambulance for Ms Gao. None of the other passengers were injured.

“I distinctly recall that the other bus was serving route 13.

“When I got off the bus, I noticed it was firmly wedged into our bus.It seemed to be empty apart from, of course, the driver,” Mr Fenton said.

Ms Gao was rushed to hospital, where doctors took four X-rays of her ribs and administered painkillers.

There were no fractures but she was still in a lot of pain.

Ms Gao was released after six hours, with instructions to return immediately in case of severe pain.

Mr Fenton was surprised to see that the incident had not been reported by the media. No official statement was released by Arriva about the incident either and questions remained unanswered by the time of going to print.

“I’m considering getting a lawyer and suing for compensation. It all depends on how long my wife will be in pain. It’s clearly their fault.

“If there had been any people in the path of the bus before it collided, they would have been dead.

“Luckily there were no people waiting on the pavement. It’s a miracle no one else was hurt,” he said.