A freak accident
I sat on the back seat of the bus with a couple of friends. We were on our way to school. It was early morning and the cool air hitting my face was very refreshing.
Slowly the old amber-colored bus made its way toward the main road that led to our school. The driver stopped the bus at the junction as the lights were red. We waited for the lights to change.
Suddenly the bus lurched to one side. I literally saw school-children in front of me float up in the air for a split second.
The next moment we were all either on the floor of the bus or desperately clinging to our seats. I was one of the former. What happened? For a few seconds, there was pandemonium on the bus. I could hear screaming and yelling.
I tried to stand up but I found it difficult. Then I realized that the bus was aslant at such an angle that we were almost stacked against the right side of the bus.
Then we heard the bus driver shouting at us to get out. We scrambled out through all available exits including the windows. School-children are pretty agile. So, soon all of us were off the bus.
We stood on the road and gaped at the sight before us. The bus had fallen into a huge hole. There right in front of us was a huge hole of about 2 meters in diameter and a meter deep.
The right front wheel of the bus was right smack in the hole while the rest of the bus hung precariously at the edge. Miraculously, except for a few bruises, none of us was badly hurt. The driver was worst off. He lost a tooth when he hit his face against the steering wheel.
How did the bus fall into a hole while standing still? The only answer must be that the road underneath the bus must have given way.
A closer examination of the hole showed that it was actually part of an underground drain. The collapsed part must have been weakened through prolonged use and it was just our luck that it gave way when we were on top of it.
What a freak accident it was! Anyway, we waited patiently while a passerby called for a tow truck via his mobile telephone. After half an hour it arrived and soon the bus was standing on firm ground again.
We climbed in and after a while, we arrived at our school. We were late, but we had a good reason to tell our teachers. As for the driver, he had to pay a visit to his dentist.