Baroness involved in bus crash, two seriously injured
The BBC reports that Baroness have been involved in a crash. The bus fell 30 feet from a viaduct near Bath in a village named Monkton Combe, UK. The band's tour promoter stated, “It is with great regret that we have to inform you that Baroness were involved in a very serious road accident earlier today and will not be able to perform at Talking Heads tonight. Our thoughts are with the band at this time and we wish them and their crew a speedy recovery.”
Of the nine passengers, two became trapped and were released by firefighters and then taken to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol to be treated. The other seven were also treated for minor injuries. Names have not been released yet and the band will be unable to perform in Southampton tonight.
An eyewitness says they saw the coach overturned onto its side. The circumstances surrounding the accident are still being investigated by local police.
UPDATE 12:24 p.m. EST: Baroness' public relations have released the following statement regarding the situation:
“Baroness were in a serious bus accident last night near Bath, England. The band members and crew are recovering at local hospitals. All tour dates are postponed until further notice.
More updates to come.”
UPDATE 1:26 p.m. EST: UK news outlet Mirror has gotten in touch with an eyewitness to the situation, Tony Cook, who was one of the first to arrive at the scene. Read what he had to say below:
“At the top of the hill it is quite windy so they were going quite slow and seemed to be taking it quite carefully. It was torrential rain – it was like one of these eastern storms or something, it was like a river down here. Whether the brakes went at the bottom or, what the driver said to one of my blokes, was that the steering went, he couldn't get around the coroner, so whether the hydraulics or something went, I don't know.
When we got down there the driver was hanging out of front of the coach, but his legs were trapped so we had to free him and get him back and comfortable. Then we got some ladders down there so that the people that were conscious inside could get out. We just got the people to the side of the road and made them comfortable and just helped where we could because obviously there was quite a bit of commotion, screaming and that, but then the police and the ambulance got here and they took over.
It was a left-hand drive, German coach, and inside there were all fairy lights, but it was all quite a mess by the time we got there. First of all you think maybe his brakes went, but I don't think he would have got quite as far around, but he said he couldn't steer around the corner, so it could have been that he was going too fast, but it could be a combination of things.”
