AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a man wandered onto a dual carriageway and into the path of a coach causing a crash that killed him and left 36 people injured, some seriously.
Father-of-one Simon Vernon, of Furnace Close, Brymbo, was killed instantly when he was hit by the coach in the early hours of Monday morning while walking on the inside lane of the A483 Wrexham bypass.
Officers said the accident was caused as the coach tried to swerve to miss Mr Vernon.
An HGV lorry travelling behind the coach then crashed into the vehicle, causing it to flip over, trapping five people inside the wreck.
Police have also confirmed that minutes before the incident, Mr Vernon was sitting in a car in a nearby lay-by with his girl-friend, who has not been named.
Mr Vernon, who would have been 21 next month, leaves a 13-month-old baby son, Josh.
Chief Inspector Lyn Adams said: 'We are extremely fortunate no-one on the bus died. It was a case of the pedestrian being in the inside lane of the dual carriageway at quarter past midnight and the driver having little option but to collide with him.
'The vehicle travelling behind, the HGV, unfortunately, was not able to stop and collided with the rear of the coach.
'Our initial examinations of both vehicles suggest there was nothing mechanically wrong with either vehicle.'
Police blocked off slip roads onto the bypass at Gresford and the Mold round-about shortly after the crash.
Diversions were in place for more than 13 hours until the road reopened just after 2pm on Monday afternoon.
Huge queues formed on the Chester Road at rush hour, with roundabouts and roads clogged up by the extra volume of lorries and cars converging on the town centre.
