Coach survivor helps save lives

Investigators will look into the cause of the crash

A Shropshire man who survived a coach crash in Austria which killed five people, helped save more lives.

The Inghams tour bus veered off a road and plunged 30 metres down a steep embankment on Tuesday.

Factory worker and part-time firefighter Peter Davies, 27, from Alveley, crawled through a window and ran to the front of the bus to switch off the engine as diesel poured onto the road.

His girlfriend Emma Jones, 30, from Bridgnorth, suffered a leg and facial injuries in the crash.

She told BBC News of her terror after the bus had been hit and she was trapped in the wreckage.

"All I can remember are the hugest bangs you could ever imagine on my head, two or three of those and then the bus came to a halt.

"The screams, and losing my boyfriend who I was sat with, because we got flung in different directions I ended up on the opposite side of the bus from where I was sitting.

"He was at the side of me when the bus stopped.

"He stayed with me as long as the firefighters would allow him to and helped other passengers.

"I knew [the firefighters] had to be quick so I didn't lose my leg."

Ms Jones said the driver of the bus had not been to blame.

"A yellow van came right to the side of us overtaking us. [Our driver] tried really hard to control the bus, it just went in the end... and finally came to an end at the bottom of the field.

"It was the fault of the other driver who overtook us. I hope he's thinking about what he has done and regretting it."

I can't explain the numbness that we felt Jan Davies

About 30 of the 46 bus passengers were injured in the crash at Bad Duerrnberg, near Hallein, 10km south of Salzburg.

The five people who died were all British.

Mr Davies' mother, Jan Davies, told BBC Radio Shropshire she found out about the crash at just after 1800 BST on Tuesday but had to wait several anxious hours before she heard news of her son.

"I can't explain the numbness that we felt," she said.

"My husband and I are level-headed people but neither of us could talk to each other. We were in total hope that he was alive.

"Once we heard from him and knew that he and Emma were both alive, it was the most wonderful piece of news anyone could ever have. I was on such a high afterwards I could not sleep."

'War zone'

Mrs Davies said her son worked at an aluminium factory in Bridgnorth where he was also a part-time firefighter.

"He told me the coach rolled six times and the windows were all broken.

"He is quite tall and thin and he was able to squeeze himself out of a window. He said he ran to the front of the coach and turned off the engine because diesel was dropping onto everyone."

She added: "I suppose working for the fire service he knew what to do.

"But he said it was dreadful and it was like a war zone with bodies everywhere."