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Student cyclist dies in bus accident

Published Date: 09 October 2008

A student cyclist has died after becoming trapped under a bus in central Preston.

Heavy lifting equipment and airbags had been used in an attempt to free the Chinese woman following the accident on Fylde Road early on Thursday afternoon.
However, Lancashire Police said that she died at the scene.
They were trying to ascertain the identity of the cyclist, though it is known she was a student at the University of Central Lancashire

Police in bid to contact dead cyclist's relatives

Published Date:
10 October 2008

By Josie Hill

Police are having problems contacting the relatives of a student who died after becoming trapped under a double-decker bus in Preston.

The unnamed victim, who died at the scene on Fylde Road, was a 21-year-old female Chinese student from the University of Central Lancashire.
The accident, at around noon on Thursday, involved a number 35 Preston Bus heading from the Tanterton area.
The bus was pulling away from a stop outside the Citroen garage near the junction with Ashton Street when the accident happened.
Preston Force Incident Manager Insp Simon Atkinson said: "We are having problems contacting her relatives who are in China.
"We have no reason to believe there are any family members in this area.
"Our senior investigation officer Sergeant Dennis Nicholson has started making enquiries with the Chinese Consulate in order to contact relatives."
Preston Bus operations director John Asquith said: "Somebody has lost a young daughter and the driver is extremely shaken-up.
"People that were around the scene were generally shaken up by the accident. It's a tragic event to those that were there and have witnessed it.
"But more important than that, your heart goes out to the family.
"I don't think you realise how bad it is until you get there. The bus driver has gone home and will be taking a few days off."
* Police are appealing for anyone who might know the victim to come forward with information to help them contact her family by calling Preston Police on 01772 203203.

Tributes to 'beautiful' Cookie

Xuan Wei was killed when she was hit by a bus on Fylde Road on Thursday

Published Date:
11 October 2008

By Suzanne Harvey

Distraught friends of a Preston student killed in a horror bus crash have left moving tributes at the spot where she lost her young life.

Xuan Wei, 21, was cycling across Fylde Road in Preston when she was hit by a double-decker bus, leaving her trapped beneath it.
One friend of the girl, known only as Phil, said: "She was kind, intelligent, fun loving and beautiful.
"She will be missed by all her friends in Preston and her family back home."
One card read: "Cookie we love you" and another said "You are with Jesus now. You are safe and in no pain."
Another added: "Be happy in heaven, our hearts will always be with you."
The Human Resource Management student had lived in the UK for a year and was a member of King's Church in Penwortham.
Rev Geoff Williams said: "Cookie was an intelligent and beautiful young woman, with a wonderfully bubbly personality. She brought joy to all those around her and her Chinese student friends and church family are stunned by her death."
Flowers were left tied to a lamppost close to the bus stop where the accident happened at noon on Thursday.
She had been cycling into university from her student accommodation.
It is the second tragedy to hit King's Church in recent weeks.
James Whitehouse, nine, from Penwortham, died in a cycling accident on Tuesday September 23. He was also attended King's Church with his family.
Images from the bus' CCTV system are being inspected by police and workers at VOSA (the Vehicle Operators Service Agency) to try and establish the cause of the collision.
The 21-year-old is from the Jiangxi Province in China.
A police spokesman said they will work with the British Embassy and Chinese police to contact her family.
Around 200 yards away from the scene, close to the student union is a toucan crossing, which allows cyclists to cross Fylde Road safely.
The University of Central Lancashire takes students from 130 countries around the world and around 900 Chinese students travel to Preston each year to study. Rev Williams added: "Cookie was involved in many of the church's activities and through her friendship she helped provide support to many of the Chinese students arriving in the town.
"Last Christmas Cookie had been part of a Chinese choir that sang carols in Mandarin and her lovely smile shone out as she sang.
"Most Chinese students choose an English name when they come over to the UK to study. Xuan Wei had chosen the unusual name of 'Cookie' – one which some of her tutors had encouraged her to change to something more normal.
"But Cookie was Cookie and was determined to keep the name she had chosen and in some ways it was appropriate, as she brought so much fun in to whatever situation she found herself and her gentleness and care were obvious to all. We will miss her so much."
A spokesman said: "We can confirm the victim was a 21-year-old Chinese female studying at UCLan.
"On behalf of all UCLan staff and students we wish to express our deepest sympathy to her family and friends at this time."
Witnesses to the incident are asked to call the road policing unit at Preston on 01772 203203.