Investigators into the fatal bus accident in Dublin last Saturday yesterday began interviewing the drivers involved.
An investigation team from Dublin Bus is to hold further interviews with the drivers today, a spokeswoman for the company said last night. The decision to begin the interview process was taken following medical advice, she said.
The interviews are to be completed by tomorrow, when the audit review group set up by Dublin Bus to inquire into the accident holds its first meeting. It is understood the drivers have been interviewed by gardaí, although the Garda declined to confirm this last night. Five people were killed in the accident at Wellington Quay, near the Clarence Hotel and a number of others seriously injured.
It happened when an out-of-service bus, which was leaving the quay for Lucan, passed a stationary Maynooth-bound bus on the inside, mounting a kerb and colliding with a group of passengers queuing to board the Maynooth bus.
Three drivers are being interviewed by the Dublin Bus investigation team, the two who were directly involved, as well as a third who had vacated the out-of-service bus shortly before the accident.
The driver of the out-of-service bus at the time of the crash had an accident-free 20-year record with the company. The colleague he had taken over from had been with the company for only 10 to 12 weeks, while the driver of the Maynooth bus had been employed by Dublin Bus for more than a year.
Hopes that security footage from the Clarence Hotel might show how the accident happened have not been realised. It is understood the hotel's cameras were not trained on the accident site at the time it happened.
There remains a prospect that security cameras on board the buses were operating at the time.
