Mr Newman used Twitter to take a swipe at police after a woman was killed by a bus in the city this morning, saying their response created traffic chaos in the area.

Ann Street was shut for two hours while traffic was diverted onto other busy roads after the woman was killed while trying to cross the road about 7am.

“There must be a better way for the Qld Police to deal with a tragic pedestrian death than to shut down the entire northern side of Brisbane and create total and utter chaos extending more than 5km from the CBD,” Mr Newman tweeted.

His tweet has since been slammed. The tweet had attracted more than 40 comments by noon, including one user who said his response showed a “lack of emotional intelligence”. Others were more blunt, calling him an “idiot” and “insensitive prat”.

Police Minister Mark Ryan also addressed Mr Newman’s comments, saying he was “appalled”.

“I’m … aware of the effect this tragic accident would have had on our police and emergency services personnel, as well as city workers and commuters who were at the scene at the time,” he said in a statement this afternoon.

“I commend police and emergency services personnel for their response. Incidents like this leave a lasting impact on everyone involved.

“However, I must say that I was appalled by comments made by former premier and former Brisbane lord mayor Campbell Newman about the police management of traffic while they were taking the necessary steps to investigate and respond to this morning’s tragedy.”

The comments online prompted Mr Newman to tweet again and defend his stance, saying “for those of you who don’t agree, what about the surgeons and doctors who didn’t get to the hospitals on time, the cancer patients who were heading for treatment, the kids who had exams, the people who missed job interviews etc?”

Speaking to The Courier-Mail, Mr Newman described the incident as a tragedy but said he was simply questioning whether the aftermath could have been handled differently by police in a bid to avoid unintended consequences.

“I hope that no one has been hurt by a flow on from today’s incident,” he said.

“What if somebody involved in a traffic accident elsewhere had died in an ambulance this morning because the police had essentially closed down the inner north of Brisbane.

“What exasperates me is the typical pile on from the left.

“Rather than looking rationally at an issue they resort to these sorts of personal attacks and innuendo when really it is commonsense and appropriate for us to question how these sorts of things are handled.

“I am just really calling for a bit of a look at this and if I had been premier still I would have called in the police minister and the commissioner and sat down with them today and I would have said ‘how can we do this better’.”

Police had earlier urged people to avoid the crash scene at the intersection with Wharf Street.

A TransLink spokesman said there were 18 bus services cancelled with half-hour delays on the majority of city buses.

Buses travelling in both directions through the Brisbane CBD have returned to schedule but passengers were told to expect residual delays about 10.30am.

Traffic diversions were put in place while officers cleared the scene.