Bus driver saves woman from Liffey

A Dublin Bus driver yesterday dived into the River Liffey to rescue a woman who had fallen from O'Connell Bridge.

A Dublin Bus driver yesterday dived into the River Liffey to rescue a woman who had fallen from O'Connell Bridge.

City-centre crowds lined the quays to watch helplessly as the woman was carried downstream. Someone managed to throw her a life belt but it failed to reach her. She was 30 metres downstream when Dublin Bus driver Mr Karl Finlay dived in. One witness said: "He just did this Tarzan-like dive off the quay wall and swam straight into the middle of the river where the woman was."

Mr Finlay, from Old Bawn, Tallaght, managed to get hold of the woman and towed her to the quay wall. A fire brigade rescue team lowered a ladder into the water. Both were taken to the Mater hospital.