Miracle escape for pupils in school bus crash
■ Collision sparks major emergency response as 36 hospitalised
DOZENS of children had a miraculous escape after their school bus collided with a car and ended up lying on its side in a ditch.
Four people remained in hospital last night following the crash in Co Limerick.
Thirty-six casualties – 34 school children, the bus driver and the driver of the car – were rushed to University Hospital Limerick by a fleet of ambulances and parents’ cars.
A major emergency response swung into action after the incident on the R513 between Caherconlish and Herbertstown at around 8.30am yesterday.
The majority of those injured were treated for “musculoskeletal and soft tissue injuries”, but some were treated for a “small number of fractures”, said the HSE.
“A total of 36 patients presented to the emergency department at UHL today in connection with the bus crash. Of these, four have now been admitted and the remainder have been discharged.
“Children and their families were also offered counselling while in hospital and follow-up psychiatric support is being arranged through their school.”
The national air ambulance helicopter was dispatched to the scene, but was not needed to transfer casualties to hospital.
The 57-seater Bus Éireann sub-contracted vehicle was bringing 46 children, aged between 13 and 18, to John the Baptist School, Hospital, Co Limerick, at the time of the crash.
A number of teachers who were travelling to school arrived on the scene quickly and also helped the children.
By the time emergency services arrived, the pupils had all made their way off the bus.
Student Aislinn Merrick said there was a “whole load of shouting and screaming” from the pupils but they managed to make their way safely out of the bus using the sky-light and windows. She told RTÉ News how the older students made sure the first-year children got out first.
The deputy principal of John the Baptist School, Ita Browne, said parents and teachers “were on the scene immediately, as were the emergency services”, and the “school’s critical incident team was immediately activated and continues to operate in response to the situation”.
Ms Browne confirmed that “psychologists from the National Educational Psychological Service are advising the school on offering counselling services for students affected by the incident”.
“Our first and primary concern is the well-being of our students,” she said. “We were very saddened to hear of the accident, so we are happy that nobody was seriously injured.”
Bus Éireann said it was helping gardaí in their enquiries into the circumstances of the collision.
“We would like to express our gratitude to all the emergency services for their rapid response, and we will continue to liaise with the school and parents of the injured students,” it said.
Earlier, UHL set up an incident group in response to the collision and cleared a number of areas in the hospital in anticipation of casualties.
Additional surgical teams and nursing staff, including paediatric and trauma nurses, were also assigned to treat the injured.
UL Hospitals Group CEO Professor Colette Cowan said: “This was a distressing incident for everyone involved and I would like to pay tribute to all the emergency services for their effective response in managing it.
“Our own staff at UHL showed exceptional dedication in managing the situation with many turning up to help without having been called in,” she said.
A Bus Éireann spokeswoman said the bus was fitted with seat belts “as all those operating school transport services must”.