Woodrow Mayes
A double-decker bus carrying more than 40 school children has crashed in County Down.
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) has declared it as a “major incident”.
It said the bus was carrying 43 school children, as well as the driver with four of those requiring hospital treatment.
Translink said the bus was carrying students from Strangford College to Bangor when the incident occurred after 16:00 BST on Monday.
Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) have deployed five fire appliances and a specialist team are at the scene of a “collision involving an overturned bus”.
Pictures on social media show the vehicle on its side in a field having left the road.
The road is closed and motorists are asked to avoid the area.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter), First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “My heart goes out to everyone injured, their families, and the emergency services who are on the scene in Carrowdore.”
DUP MP for Strangford, Jim Shannon said: “Our thanks go to the police service, the NIFRS, the ambulance service, as well as the air ambulance.”
“We are unsure of the scale, however the fear is palpable,” he added.
“Thoughts and prayers will be with parents and children during this uncertainty.”
Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra programme, UUP councillor Peter Wray said: “As well as the people who are directly affected, it can also cause some distress for other pupils or other people who have seen this incident and have been distressed by it.”
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Pupils ‘screaming’
Twelve-year-old Strangford College pupil Dylan said he was sitting with his friend on the top deck of the bus when it crashed.
“The bus hit a post and it started to stall and went down this hill,” he told news agency Press Association.
“It just started shaking. I closed my eyes and then I opened them and I was on the floor.”
Dylan windows were later smashed with a hammer to get pupils out of the bus.
“I was crawling under stuff like railings and school bags and stuff. It was on its side in the field.”
Dylan then called his mother, Stacey, to tell her about the crash.
“I could hear him screaming that he had crashed,” she said.
“I could hear all the kids in the background screaming. It was awful.”
Stacey said Dylan had received a lump and cut on his head.
The South Eastern Health Trust said staff in the nearby Ulster Hospital were treating a “number of patients” involved in the bus crash.
“We would ask any patient not requiring emergency care to please use alternative services,” a statement added.
