Ten bus passengers were fortunate to avoid injury this morning when the roof of a double decker was ripped off in a collision with a tree in Dublin city centre.
The bus, which was carrying ten passengers at the time, was travelling in a bus lane on the North Strand, near the Five Lamps pub, when it struck an overhanging tree at around 8am.
The 42A bus was en route to Artane from Abbey Street at the time of the incident.
A spokeswoman for Dublin Bus said the driver of the vehicle was taken to hospital to be treated for shock. She said that none of the passengers onboard were injured or seated in the upper saloon of the bus.
The Dublin Bus risk and safety department has been requested to immediately commence an investigation into the cause of the incident.
They will examine CCTV footage from the bus, interview the driver and passengers and examine the bus, which the company said was a standard model from its fleet, she said.
The spokeswoman added there had been no complaints or safety concerns about the tree in the past, even though hundreds of buses travel along the route each day.
