A cyclist was killed after being hit by a double decker bus outside the entrance to the Olympic Games Main Press Center in London on Wednesday. The accident, which occurred just outside the Olympic Park, caused major traffic delays in the Olympic Games host city.
The collision, which occurred at the intersection between East Cross Road and Ruckholt Road in Hackney, caused chaos around the Olympic hockey center and velodrome.
The 28 year old cyclist, who has not yet been identified, was announced dead at the scene about half an hour after the accident occurred. Authorities responded promptly to the scene, as policemen, fire and rescue personnel and members of the military were already in the Olympic Park area. Several entrances near the bus entry into the media center and the Olympic Park were closed. Following the accident, no buses were able to enter or leave the Media Transport area’s multi-level car park. The Olympic Park internal shuttle, however, remained operational to transport media officials to the events.
Although the victim’s name has yet to be released to the media, Olympic organizers have confirmed that he was not a competitor in the Olympics.
The cyclist was pronounced dead by medical officials on the scene at 8.14pm, and his body was shielded from view of the crowd of onlookers with mesh fencing until the coroner arrived to remove it.
The London Olympic organizing committee have sent their condolences to the man’s family, and are working together with the police to investigate the cause of the incident.
Olympic cyclist Bradley Wiggins, who won a gold medal for Britain in the time trial earlier on Wednesday morning, has emphasized the dangers of cycling in urban areas in the UK following the tragic incident. Wiggins, who won the Tour de France earlier this month, has asked motorists to be considerate to cyclists. “At the end of the day we’ve all got to co-exist on the roads,” he said.
Following investigation into the incident, police have arrested the bus driver, a man in his mid-60s, after it appears that his dangerous driving may have caused the accident. The man was held in an East London police station but has now been released on bail pending his trial later in August.
The identity of the cyclist is expected to be released later today, with a postmortem examination scheduled for the weeks that follow. If the bus driver is found to be at fault in this incident, the cyclist’s family may be able to claim compensation with the help of an experienced bus accident lawyer.