A bus driver accused of killing a Cambridge University medical student and dragging her body for more than half a mile under his vehicle told the court he thought he had run over a bottle and later a fox.
Mingwei Tan was hit by a night bus as she crossed the road in the early hours of 30 September last year after returning from a holiday in Cyprus, it is claimed.
The 20-year-old from Singapore, who was living in north London, was caught underneath the vehicle and found lying with fatal injuries 825 metres along the road, the court heard.
A post-mortem examination revealed she died of multiple injuries.
Shahriar Firouzian, 52, of Harrow Way, Watford, Hertfordshire, denies causing death by careless driving after he allegedly hit her as she crossed Pond Street, Hampstead, north London, jurors at London's Blackfriars Crown Court were told.
Jurors were told the Iranian-born bus driver had stopped to collect an elderly woman outside the Royal Free Hospital shortly after the collision, at about 1.45am.
Firouzian only discovered Miss Tan had been killed the next day, when he was suspended by his employers, Metroline.
He told police after the incident that he believed he had initially run over a bottle and then a fox when Miss Tan's body eventually came loose.
In his statement, he said: "I think it was a bottle left behind the hospital when I picked up an old black lady."
He added: "I think it was a fox just after Belsize Park rail station."
Tributes were laid for Miss Tan on the roadside, following her death
Jurors were shown photographs of the scene, including the positions of a sock, shoe, mobile phone and purse which were found along the road.
Dressed in a dark grey suit with a striped tie, Firouzian sat quietly with an interpreter during the hearing.
The court heard Firouzian gained his driving licence in Sweden and had been driving for Metroline since 2003.
Miss Tan was making her way to West Hampstead to collect luggage from a family friend
Hamish Reid, prosecuting, said: "It is not part of the prosecution case that when Mr Firouzian started his shift that night he intended to kill Miss Tan."
He added: "He will have to live with what happened for the rest of his life."
A statement from Miss Tan's university friend Mike Money said the pair flew into Gatwick Airport at 11pm on 29 September 2010, after a holiday in Cyprus with two other friends.
Miss Tan was then travelling to West Hampstead to collect luggage from a family friend before catching another flight that day to Rome, the court heard.
She had recently travelled to Singapore and had planned to take part in a volunteering project in Nepal, Mr Money said.
Jurors will visit the scene on Wednesday where Miss Tan is believed to have been struck by the bus. Expert witnesses will give evidence to the trial on Thursday and Friday.
The court heard that Miss Tan's family, who live in Singapore, are unlikely to attend the trial.