Six feared dead in truck crash
Six people were feared dead after a refuse truck crashed onto a crowded pavement in Glasgow city centre last night.
The green Glasgow City Council vehicle lost control and mowed down Christmas shoppers near to the city's busy Queen Street railway station.
The area was packed with shoppers as the truck mounted the pavement and travelled for about 300 metres before ploughing into the side of the Millennium Hotel.
Melanie Greig was shopping in the area at the time and told Britain's Sky News "the lorry just lost control, it just went along the pavement knocking people down like pinballs".
"There was a baby in a buggy, there were two little kids," she said.
"It travelled for 200 yards, it just continued on the pavement, the only way it stopped was hitting the building.
"There were noises, bangs and screams. It was a horrific thing, just horrible." Another witness, student Lewis Irvine, 17, said he saw the lorry "swerving along the road" and hit at least half a dozen people before going into the hotel.
Journalist Findlay Mair, 23, was working in George Square when the accident happened.
He said he heard a "huge bang followed by lots of screaming".
"The screaming kept on going," he said. "It was chaos. I saw one girl who had been hit, lying on the ground. "She got up and blood was pouring from her mouth, then she went down again.
"There was blood everywhere. Time seemed to stand still. It was a terrible, terrible scene."
Up to six ambulances attended the scene and Police Scotland confirmed there were many casualties with reports of children among the fatalities.
"A Glasgow city council bin lorry was travelling north on Queen Street when it appeared to strike pedestrians outside the Gallery of Modern Art before continuing to travel towards George Square, when it crashed at the Millennium Hotel on Queen Street at George Square," a police spokesman said.
Supt. Stewart Carle said the truck had hit several people as it careered along the road.
"It's a road traffic accident, nothing more sinister," he said.
It is believed the driver of the truck may have fallen ill at the time of the accident and police confirmed the driver had been taken to hospital but declined to say what his injuries were.
Police quickly sealed off George Square as eyewitnesses described bodies lying in the road.
The Scottish Fire Service tweeted: "Firefighters are in attendance at a serious incident in Queen Street, Glasgow.
"Our crews are working alongside other emergency responders."
With agencies
