Coach Falls From Viaduct: Rock Band On Board

Two people trapped after a coach fell 30ft (10 metres) from a viaduct in Bath have been rescued by emergency services.

An Avon Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "A coach has left the road close to Limpley Stoke Bridge and fallen around 30ft.

"It is understood there were nine people on board the coach, two of whom were trapped."

The fire service said those trapped were released using hydraulic cutting equipment.

Witnesses told Sky News the passengers were members of US rock band Baroness and the driver was German.

The band, which comes from Savannah, Georgia, was touring Britain and Europe when the incident occurred.

They played a gig in Bristol last night, and were travelling to another gig in Southampton at the time of the crash.

The band's line-up consists of musicians John Baizley, Peter Adams, Matt Maggioni and Allen Blickle.

All nine people on the single-decker coach were taken to hospital, according to the Great Western Ambulance Service. None of their injuries were thought to be life-threatening.

A spokesman for the band said: "Baroness were in a serious bus accident last night near Bath, England. The band members and crew are recovering at local hospitals. All tour dates are postponed until further notice."

Eyewitnesses said they heard a loud bang and rushed to the scene.

Site manager Tony Cook, 61, was one of the first people to arrive as he was working at a property at the bottom of Brassknocker Hill.

When he and some of the other workers got to the coach they found the driver hanging out of the front window, Mr Cook said.

After helping him out the driver told them there had been a problem with the steering.

"At the top of the hill it is quite windy so they were going quite slow and seemed to be taking it quite carefully," Mr Cook said.

"It was torrential rain. It was like one of these eastern storms or something, it was like a river down here."

The road was closed at the junction of Brassknocker Hill and the A36 following the incident.

"For reasons that are not yet known, the coach failed to stop at the bottom of Brassknocker Hill, travelled across the A46 and left the road, dropping around 30ft below, coming to rest near a canal," a fire service spokesman said.

Sky News correspondent Isabel Webster, reporting from the scene, said: "It has been a huge emergency service operation here.

"At one point there were 10 fire and rescue appliances at the scene with winches, ropes and cutting equipment, the type of equipment more often seen at motorway accidents.

"The recovery services will now have to work to try to recover the vehicle."

Police appealed for witnesses and urged anyone with information to call police on 101.