A TEENAGE girl died after being crushed under the wheels of a bus she had been a passenger on seconds earlier, an inquest heard.

Nadine Corbett, 16, who was travelling with a friend on a single-decker bus, stumbled and fell as she left the vehicle.

Nadine died after being hit at the junction of Millbank Road and Powlett Road, in Hartlepool, at 6.35pm on March 30.

She suffered multiple injuries that killed her instantly, the inquest was told.

Hartlepool Coroner Malcolm Donnelly was told that Nadine, from Hartlepool, was seen raising her arm towards an emergency door open button at the front of the moving bus just before she fell.

However, Nadine's mother, Lorraine Mincher, told the inquest that no one had witnessed her daughter press the button and claimed doors sometimes opened when vehicles are still moving.

Mr Donnelly said checks revealed there was no mechanical faults with the bus.

He also heard that the only way a bus door can be opened is if the passenger emergency button or the driver's button is pressed.

Mr Donnelly said the evidence showed Nadine voluntarily went down some steps.

He said: "Some things we will never know. If somebody is not with us then we can't ask her obviously. I don't think there is anything else we can find out here.

"The evidence does indicate that she went down the steps voluntarily. There were five people who saw her do that."

Mr Donnelly recorded a verdict that Nadine died as a result of a tragic accident.