Cyclist killed and another fighting for life in crashes on the capital's streets

Dramatic scenes: A woman, in her 30s, was hit by a bus in Whitechapel High Street
@AMushahid
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A cyclist has been killed in a hit-and-run and another is fighting for her life in separate crashes on the streets of London.

A 30-year-old woman died in hospital after being struck by a car in a hit-and-run in Bounces Road, Enfield, at about 1.45am on Monday.

Scotland Yard are hunting the driver of a small white car believed to be involved in the crash.

Detectives believe the car will have smashed windscreen and extensive damage on the front bonnet.

Cycle superhighway: A woman, in her 30s, is in a critical condition
HackneyCyclist/Twitter

Witnesses are urged to come forward.

The woman’s next of kin have been informed, police said.

The fatality came just hours before another woman, also in her 30s, was left fighting for her life in hospital after being hit by a coach in east London during rush hour.

Serious crash: A woman was left fighting for life after being bit by a coach in Whitechapel
HackneyCyclist/Twitter

The second cyclist is believed to have been using the CS2 cycle superhighway in Whitechapel High Street, close to Aldgate East Tube station, before she was hit.

Bystanders described dramatic scenes as heroic crowds battled to remove the woman from underneath the vehicle just before 9am.

Police cordon: Whitechapel High Street was taped off following the crash
Tom Powell

One witness told the Standard: “There was a crowd standing around the other side of the coach and people trying to pull the bike from underneath.”

Another 26-year-old witness, who was on his way to work in Lime Street and asked not to be named, told the Standard: “I stopped at the lights right behind it. I was riding along with a friend.

“We saw a coach coming out from the left. We just heard a crunch and something going under it. We both just thought ‘what the hell was that’ and then saw that there was a person under there.

“My friend called an ambulance. People gathered round. A doctor stopped to help. I went further on ahead to block the cycle lane and stop people cycling down towards the incident.

“The emergency services were there pretty quickly. We stayed for about 45 minutes to an hour to give our statements to the police. It didn’t really hit me what had happened until I actually got to into work.

Horror smash: A cyclist was hit by a coach on the CS2 cycle route in Whitechapel
Gulam Shadat Vavo/Facebook

“I am up and down that road almost every day and I’ve always thought that junction was a bit dangerous.”

Khalid Mushtaq, owner of Fashion Warehouse, on Whitechapel High Street, described a large police presence in the road.

He told the Standard that the introduction of CS2 in 2011 had caused “overcrowding” in the area.

Mr Mushtaq said: “They have put in this separate cycle lane with clear barriers but it does not seem to be working.

"There are just so many cyclists and vehicles on the road now that it is overcrowded, especially in the morning.

"It is so sad that this person has been seriously injured despite the measures taken to prevent it.

“We have a lot of cyclists come up here, since the restructure [and introduction of CS2]. I think it has made things more confusing.

“We had a cyclist killed a couple of years ago outside the shop.”

Police said the driver of the coach stopped at the scene and no arrests have been made.

A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "We sent a two single responder in cars, an incident response officer, an ambulance crew and our hazardous area response team to the scene.

“We also dispatched London's Air Ambulance to the scene.

"We treated a patient in cardiac arrest at the scene and took them as a priority to hospital."

Anyone with any information about the crash in Enfield is asked to call the witness appeal line on 020 8597 4874 or alternatively contact police via Twitter @MetCC.

Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in