



A cyclist has been killed near the London Olympic Park after being hit by a double decker bus carrying members of the media between venues, according to the BBC.


Dan Harris, a 28-year-old from Essex, was injured in the incident at around 19.40pm at the junction of Ruckholt Road and East Cross Road around one mile north of the park close to the hockey centre and velodrome.

Police and air ambulance attended to the man but he was pronounced dead 30 minutes later. The incident is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police’s Traffic Investigation Unit.

“We can confirm that a cyclist tragically died as a result of a collision with a bus carrying media from the Olympic Park this evening,” said a statement from London Olympic organisers LOCOG. “The police are investigating and our thoughts are with the cyclist’s family.”

A man in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving but was later bailed. The victim is expected to be formally identified later on Thursday.

The incident happened shortly before new Olympic time trial champion Bradley Wiggins was preparing to speak at a press conference. When asked about the incident, Wiggins said the Government should change the law to make helmets compulsory.

“Ultimately, if you get knocked off and you don’t have a helmet on, then how can you argue,” he said. “You can get killed if you don’t have a helmet on.”

“[People] shouldn’t be riding along with iPods and phones and things on and [they] should have lights and all those things. So I think when there’s laws passed for cyclists, then you’re protected and you can say, well, I’ve done everything to be safe.

“I haven’t lived in London for 10 to 15 years now and it’s got a lot busier since I was riding a bike as a kid round here, and I got knocked off several times.


“But at the end of the day we’ve all got to co-exist on the roads. Cyclists are not ever going to go away, as much as drivers moan, and as much as cyclists maybe moan about certain drivers they are never going to go away, so there’s got to be a bit of give and take.”