Two injured in bus crash

The bus passengers had a lucky escape

Two people have been injured in a school bus crash in County Down.

The bus was involved in a collision with a car on an icy stretch of road near Castlewellan about 0930 GMT on Tuesday.

The female driver of the car and a 16-year-old girl were injured in the incident at Clonvaraghan Road, Ballyward.

They were taken to the Down Hospital in Downpatrick where it is understood they were treated for back, head and facial injuries.

The 16-year-old girl has been dicharged.

The woman driver's condition is described as stable.

Thirty-six pupils from St Malachy's High School in Castlewellan were on the bus at the time of the accident.

Fire-fighters with ladders had to rescue many of them through the back door of the vehicle.

The Ulsterbus ended up hanging over a hedge overlooking a ditch

Andrew Cooper Ambulance Service

When the crash occurred, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service instigated its major incident plan, with six vehicles tasked to the scene.

Keith Stewart, the service's manager in the area, said the children had a lucky escape.

"There's no way that the children could have come off through the front of the bus, " he said.

"The front door led to an eight to 10 foot drop into a field so the potential was there, that if there had been another two to three foot of travel on the bus, the bus could literally have rolled into a field."

'Frightening experience'

The Ambulance Service's deputy head of operations, Andrew Cooper, said conditions where the crash occurred had been very slippery.

"The Ulsterbus ended up hanging over a hedge overlooking a ditch," he said.

The children were taken to school on a different bus.

Principal of St Malachy's High School Nuala Cunningham said it had been a frightening experience for her pupils.

"Some of the children who arrived at the school had to be taken home because of delayed shock," she said.

"Obviously they were witnessed to the accident and to the injuries of the other party and some of them were very shocked by the sight."

She said that a number of pupils were related to the injured woman.