Pandemonium, shock and sorrow as five school girls die in horror crash

FOUR of the five teenage girls who were killed in yesterday’s horror bus crash were pupils at the Loreto Convent in Navan.

As the tiny communities of Beauparc and Kentstown try to cope with the shocking events which unfolded yesterday afternoon, a major investigation has started into what caused the crash, which claimed five lives and left dozens injured. The students who died were aged between 13 and 16.

Twenty-six people, including the drivers of two cars who were also caught up in the carnage, were being treated in a Drogheda hospital last night six of them in a serious condition.

Twenty-five were ferried to Navan Hospital. Two were admitted to the main hospital, while a further four were still being assessed late last night. The other 19 were released after being treated.

Nine fire crews, civil defence vehicles and a fleet of ambulances were deployed to the scene. The school bus that was transporting the 50 students back home from Loreto Convent School, The Mercy Convent, Beaufort College and St Patrick's Classical School in Navan remained by the side of the road for some hours after the accident, which happened shortly after 4pm.

Four of the five who died are believed to be from Beauparc, a small village about six miles from Navan.

Investigators remain unsure as to what happened in the seconds before the terrible crash. While the bus driver received minor physical injuries, he was being treated for shock.

The drivers of the two cars were more badly injured and the gardaí had not interviewed them by late last night.

It is known that the driver of the 93 Registration Bus Eireann swerved for some reason. It is believed he was attempting to avoid two cars which seconds earlier had been involved in a head-on crash.

Gardaí confirmed that the bus did not collide with any vehicle prior to going into a spin.

The bus, which was travelling away from Navan, spun 360 degrees, then overturned onto the verge of the road.

Workers were resurfacing the road at the time of the crash and it had just rained heavily, suggesting that the slippery surface may have contributed to the accident.

Up to 14 of the pupils were thrown through the windows of the spinning vehicle.

They were the lucky ones as they were the least badly injured.

Those that died were in the rear of the vehicle. It is thought they were crushed as the bus overturned.

There was pandemonium in the minutes after the crash. Some children walked away with scratches but in deep shock.

Others used their mobiles to phone parents, some of whom were on the scene before the emergency services.

Some children were placed in the backs of cars and ferried to hospital.

Fr David Hanlon, a priest in the Kentstown parish, described how one of his friend's children was on the bus.

"Her daughter was on the bus and she rang in an hysterical state. She was in such a bad way, she had no idea even where she was."

As family members rushed to the scene, the emergency services became aware they were dealing with a major emergency following the logging of the first call to Navan Fire Brigade at 4.29pm.

The hospital was put on immediate alert. At 4.47pm a site medical team requested ambulance control. A consultant in emergency medicine and a nurse were flown to the scene.

The north-east major emergency plan, involving gardaí, the fire, ambulance services, hospitals and civil defence swung into action.

Medics were flown in by helicopter as fire and ambulance crews were despatched from Navan and Drogheda.

The injured were assessed at the scene, with the most seriously injured ferried to Drogheda.

It took some time, nearly two hours, before all the injured and deceased were removed from the scene.

Fr O'Hanlon said the entire community will be devastated by the tragedy.

"It's going to affect the entire community very profoundly. It's a very rural, very close-knit community. A lot of the families have deep roots and are interconnected by marriage and a long history of friendship and neighbourliness."

Chief Superintendent Michael Finnegan said: "Really there was total and utter pandemonium at the scene. Some of the injured were put in cars before the doctors arrived."

An incident room has been set up at Navan Garda Station, telephone [phone]. Bus Eireann have set up phone lines at 01-7033410/01-7033254.