London cyclist killed in Denmark Hill lorry crash

Esther Hartsilver was cycling to work when she was in collision with a lorry

A cyclist has died after a collision with a lorry in south London.

Esther Hartsilver, 32, was injured in the crash on Denmark Hill on Thursday morning.

Ms Hartsilver, a senior physiotherapist, was taken to King's College Hospital, where she was a member of staff but died later, police said.

She is the sixth cyclist to die on London's roads this year. All have involved HGVs.

Ms Hartsilver is the sixth cyclist to be killed by a lorry on the city's roads this year

Later in the day, in east London, a unicyclist was hurt in a collision with a bus. Bystanders tried to lift it off him after he became trapped underneath.

The crash, involving a number 212 bus, happened in Walthamstow just before 18:00 BST on Thursday.

'Amazed'

Cafe owner, Sami Ullah, told London's Evening Standard: "There were so many people gathered there. There must have been about 50 to 100. They somehow managed to pull the bus away a bit.

"We were amazed - it was a heavy bus, a double-decker. Police were here straight away and they took over."

Police said no-one had been arrested in connection with the unicycle crash.

This was also the case with the accident in Denmark Hill, where the lorry driver stopped at the scene.

Other cyclists who have died in London so far this year are:

• French-born mother-of-two Claire Hitier-Abadie, 36, who was killed in a crash involving a tipper truck in Victoria in February

• Stephanie Turner, 29, who died after a collision in Stamford Hill in January

• A 25-year-old woman killed when she was knocked down by a truck near Bloomsbury Square in February

• A 34-year-old man pronounced dead at the scene of a crash with a lorry in Homerton, also in February

• Designer Moira Gemmill, 55, was killed in an accident near Lambeth in April

Last year, Transport for London said it would cut the number of lorries on the roads during peak hours and test equipment on buses to help drivers spot cyclists.

Plans to build two new cycle superhighways, stretching from east to west and north to south London, were given the go-ahead in February.