Major incident as school bus crashes carrying 43 schoolchildren

Four people are in hospital after a school bus carrying 43 schoolchildren crashed in Northern Ireland, paramedics have said.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said at 4:30pm on Monday that it had declared a major incident following the crash in County Down.

As well as a number of minor injuries, eight people were treated for more serious wounds at the scene and four patients required hospital treatment, the ambulance service said.

The mother of a 12-year-old boy on the bus, who sustained an injury to his head and is a pupil at Strangford Integrated College, described hearing pupils screaming over the phone after the vehicle turned over.

Dylan Lee, who was sitting on the top deck, said: “The bus hit a post and it started to stall and went down this hill. It just started shaking. I closed my eyes and then I opened them and I was on the floor.”

He added: “Then there was this guy came down with a hammer and the windows were all being smashed so we could get out. I was crawling under stuff like railings and school bags and stuff. It was on its side in the field.”

The ambulance service said it scrambled several emergency vehicles to the scene in Carrowdore, including an air ambulance, and urged members of the public only to call 999 in life-threatening situations while they responded to the accident.

Standing down the major incident at 6:30pm, paramedics said the service would remain busy for many hours as it dealt with the backlog of calls, adding: “Please use 999 wisely and be patient if you really need to call us.”

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Firefighters, including a specialist team, also rushed to help, while police also urged motorists to avoid the area as they reported that officers were at the scene “of a one vehicle road traffic collision”.

In its statement, the ambulance service said: “NIAS continues to deal with major incident in Carrowdore. Latest information would indicate that 43 school children on the bus [plus] one driver. Four patients will require hospital treatment and the rest should be discharged at scene.”

Local SDLP representative Will Polland alleged that concerns had been raised multiple times about the road where the crash occurred.

Mr Polland told the BBC: “First responders were on the scene as quick as possible and we are incredibly grateful for that. Our hearts and prayers go out, not just to those who are unfortunately involved, but those who have responded. We are keeping everyone in our hearts and minds at this point.”

He added: “This road has had concerns about it raised multiple times.

“I send all my prayers out to everyone involved in the incident. It is an absolute tragedy.”