Man dies and several injured after ‘serious’ collision between bus and car near Hunterston

ONE man has died and two people have been seriously injured in a crash involving a bus and a car.

The Stagecoach bus and a Mercedes collided on the A78, near Hunterston roundabout at Fairlie, North Ayrshire, at around 10.10am.

The incident prompted a large response from the emergency services, who sent multiple vehicles, specialist teams and helicopters to the scene.

Police Scotland later confirmed that the 53-year-old man driving the Mercedes died at the scene. He was the only person in the car.

The male bus driver and a female passenger have been taken by helicopter to Glasgow’s new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where they are both are being treated for serious head injuries.

A further eight bus passengers – six women and two men – have been taken by ambulance to either Inverclyde Royal Hospital or Crosshouse Hospital for treatment, police confirmed.

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We received an emergency call shortly after 10am this morning for a road traffic accident involving a bus.

“We responded with multiple vehicles, including six ambulances, one paramedic response unit, a full special operations response team, area services managers, the EMRS (Emergency Medical Retrieval Service) and two helicopters.

“This was a serious road traffic accident. We worked with our colleagues from Police Scotland and the fire service.

“We conveyed 10 patients to multiple hospitals, including Inverclyde, Crosshouse and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.”

He said that “several patients” were in a serious condition, and added: “It’s still very much an ongoing incident.”