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A crowd of heroic bystanders freed a seriously injured unicyclist from under a bus after it knocked him down in Walthamstow during the evening rush hour.

The victim was left fighting for his life in hospital after being hit by a number 212 bus in Hoe Street just before 6pm today.

Witnesses told how up to 100 bystanders, some of whom had been dining at nearby restaurants, attempted to lift the bus off the unicyclist after he became trapped under it.

Witness Kyra Sam described seeing a crowd of people rushing to lift the bus off the injured man.

She said she was walking towards Walthamstow market when she heard screams at the scene of the accident.

She told the Standard: "I'm really amazed at the strength of Walthamstow - no one hesitated to push the bus off, I was in shock.

"Everyone really came together to help - it was really nice to see that in the face of something so awful."

Hoe Street E17 closed @ jnctn with Church Hill @BBCLondon949 @WFGuardian because of RTA pic.twitter.com/DzIJAHXqyU — Jonny Kopite (@jonnykopite66) May 28, 2015

Sami Ullah, owner of Directors Cut café, which is opposite the crash scene, said he was "amazed" that the group were able to lift the bus.

Describing the moments after the accident, he said: "I was standing at the till and heard a loud noise. It was a big bang – we thought it was a shotgun or something.

"All of a sudden we saw people leaving their chairs at Turtle Bay and Pizza Express and running towards the road. We saw people actually coming out of the bus as well. Everybody was shouting and screaming.

"Then all of the people tried to somehow move the bus a little bit."

He added the unicycle was "in a proper mess".

"There were so many people gathered there," he said. "There must have been about 50 to 100. They somehow managed to pull the bus away a bit. We were amazed – it was a heavy bus, a double decker. Police were here straightaway and they took over."

He added: "I saw the [victim] earlier – he was wheeling in the main square. He comes in quite often."

Another witness tweeted: "Cyclists trapped under a bus at #walthamstow 100 people trying to lift the bus to save his life."

The unicyclist was taken to an east London hospital with serious injuries, Scotland Yard said.

The bus driver, who stopped at the scene of the accident, has not been arrested.

Motorists were advised to avoid the area while the road was closed for a police investigation.

In a statement, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "Police were called at 5.50pm to a bus in collision with a unicyclist in Hoe Street, E17.

"The male unicyclist was taken by ambulance to an east London hospital where his condition is believed to be serious.

"The bus - a route 212 - stopped at the scene. There has been no arrest. Roads closures are in place."

Earlier today a female cyclist was left with serious injuries after being hit by a lorry in Camberwell.