Children injured and shaken in Down bus crash

Eleven special needs children were left badly shaken when their school bus overturned in Co Down today.

Some suffered cuts and bruises, but none was badly hurt, according to police.

The driver of the minibus and two adults were also shaken.

It is understood the bus was either leaving or on its way to Knockevin Special Needs school at Racecourse Hill, Downpatrick when the accident happened on the Vianstown Road.

Several ambulances rushed to the scene and at one stage a doctor treated some of the children by the roadside. They are aged between four and 11.

One child was trapped in a wheelchair and the driver stayed with him until all the children were rescued.

One eyewitness said the bus was struck from behind by a van close to a road junction. There was a lot of blood and broken glass. Some of the children were taken to a nearby house.

Another told the BBC Radio Ulster Stephen Nolan show: “The children were extremely distressed and frightened. The driver was amazing. He made sure all the children were alright. He stayed with them. Glass was all over the road. There was blood everywhere.

“Children were screeching. It was like a horror movie. It was absolutely scary.”