Snowfall blamed for school bus crashes

Heavy snowfalls have been blamed after two British school buses crashed in Austria.

Thirteen children were taken to hospital but none was critically injured. One girl with a bruised spine may have to be flown home.

Most children from Orleans Park School in Twickenham and Plessington Catholic High School in the Wirral have been released from hospital. One boy, who broke his pubic bone, has been kept in.

Police spokesman Gerhard Steidl said: "There have been heavy snowfalls since Thursday and there was a lot of slush on the road. The driver had just overtaken a large articulated lorry and was pulling into the slow lane when he got into difficulty on a steep curve just before the Reit Tunnel.

"He lost control and skidded across the road, coming to a halt in front of the lorry he had just overtaken, which then crashed into the side of the bus."

He said the lorry driver had limited visibility and had seen the bus too late and hit it, causing extensive damage. He said there were 64 emergency workers on the scene.

Meanwhile, a pile-up involving 40 vehicles on the road to Slovenia in southern Austria left one person dead and 12 injured.