A BELFAST councillor has called for the pedestrianisation of the city centre to be put on the agenda after a 26-year-old man died after being knocked down by a bus at the weekend.
Samuel McAuley (26) was struck by the bus at around 7.40pm on Saturday night in Donegall Square West and subsequently died from his injuries.
SDLP Councillor Gary McKeown said the incident was upsetting and called for a review of traffic in Belfast city centre to improve safety.
“It is terrible that someone lost their life and I’m sure the incident was very upsetting for people in the area at the time," he said.
"This location beside Belfast City Hall is generally very busy with buses and pedestrians using the same space, so it will be important to find out what happened. I would urge anyone who witnessed the collision to please contact the police. I would also like to thank the emergency services who attended the scene.
“The full details of this incident are still under investigation, but I think in general the issue is the layout of the city centre and the fact that there are locations where a lot of people and a lot of buses share the same space, so we need a review of our city centre and increased pedestrianisation”
The Tool Box, a project run by Compassion Belfast, said Samuel was a regular at their workshops and gave a moving tribute on their Facebook page.
“Sammy [was] a regular every Wednesday at Compassion Belfast's the Tool Box project where he enjoyed getting stuck in to a range of woodwork projects, all the while discovering a whole new range of skills he didn't even realise he had.
“Everyone loved Sammy, he had a beautiful warmth of character, was a great one for a good yarn, was very funny – always polite and courteous. He wore his heart on his sleeve and his openness and honesty about his life experiences were an inspiration to all of us at the Tool Box who shared a work bench with him. The room just won't be the same without him.
“Compassion Belfast wish to express our sincerest sympathies to all Sammy's family and friends. We share your sense of grief and tragic loss at this very sad time.”
