A BOY of 13 is lucky to be alive after crawling under a bus to retrieve a coin just as it the vehicle was moving away from its stop.

The teenager dropped the coin at the bus station in the Pentagon Shopping Centre at Chatham,

He apparently climbed through the kerbside guard rail and under the stationary bus to retrieve it.

At that point, a driver, who was boarding the bus did not see the boy underneath it, and began to pull away.

Shoppers looked on in horror and alerted the driver to the danger as the bus began to move away. He immediately stopped the vehicle and the emergency services were called.

Firefighters from Medway along with paramedics and police arrived at the scene within minutes.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: “We got the call at 2.07pm last Friday and initial reports suggested he was crushed beneath the bus.

“We used air-bags to lift the bus and he had suffered arm and leg and head injuries, but none were thought to be life threatening. He was taken away by ambulance.”

A spokesman for Arriva said: “I can confirm that an incident occurred at 2.05pm, when a 13-year-old boy apparently climbed through the kerbside guard rails and under a stationary bus to retrieve a coin he had dropped.

“The driver was unable to see the boy as he boarded the bus and began to pull away. The boy was treated at Medway Maritime Hospital and we wish him a speedy recovery.

“We understand the police are apportioning no blame to our driver and CCTV images have already been downloaded from the cameras on the outside of the bus which confirm the circumstances of the incident.”

The boy has not been named.