Cumbernauld school bus crash leaves 22 children injured after bus carrying 44 pupils flips – with kids kicking out windows to escape
The vehicle is believed to have flipped on to its side in rush-hour traffic this morning
TWENTY-TWO children have been taken to hospital after a horror bus crash in which terrified pupils are believed to have smashed the back windscreen to escape after it caught fire.
The school bus was carrying 44 pupils when it flipped into a ditch near Our Lady's High in Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire at rush-hour this morning.
The cause of the crash is unknown, but an eye-witness said it looked like the bus was on fire before it crashed into the ditch.
Schoolboy Joe Smith, 12, who was on the bus, told the : "We thought the engine was malfunctioning because the bus was shaking.
"We came to the corner and the bus started to speed up. We hit the lamp post and the bus tipped and fell over.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_IbH8koiDk]
"Unfortunately I fell on one of my friends. When we were on the bus, we heard people shouting. We heard people crying. I heard one of my pals shouting."
He said the driver smashed the emergency window so pupils could escape, and teachers helped pull children out.
Joe said: "There were lots of severe injuries, I don't want to say names, but it's quite sad."
A pupil is also believed to have kicked through the bus's back window after it overturned so children could escape after the terrifying crash.
A friend of children involved in the crash said one had broken their nose while another had injured their back and arm.
"Everyone is in shock and all the children are being kept in the school's assembly hall," she told Sun Online.
"The corner that the crash was on is very dangerous and there isn't a lot of space."
Emergency services flocked to the scene and firefighters put out a small fire in the engine compartment after the crash just before 9am.
No children are reported to be seriously injured but five have been taken to hospital "as a precaution".
North Lanarkshire council initially said two pupils were taken to hospital after the crash, but it has now confirmed that 22 pupils have been taken to hospital.
None are believed to be seriously injured.
Eyewitness Ashleigh Douglas, 30, said she was heading to the shops with her daughter Esther, five, when she watched in horror as the bus fell down the embankment.
She said: “It’s a very dangerous road. It leads down to the football pitches at the bottom.
“I saw the bus turn the corner and it clipped the kerb. It looked like the left-hand wheel had caught fire and then all of a sudden it went over the embankment.
“Luckily Esther never saw anything and just saw the police arrive.”
Parents on Facebook said children were “upset” and “shaken” after the dramatic crash.
A North Lanarkshire council spokesman said the single-decker bus was carrying around 50 pupils.
He said two children had been taken to hospital as a precaution but there were no reports of serious injuries.
The spokesman said parents were at the school and children involved in the crash had been allowed to go home.
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He said an investigation was being launched into the cause of the crash.
The bus is believed to have been carrying pupils from nearby Abronhill.
Parents are understood to have received a text from the school confirming there were no serious injuries.
A fire service spokeswoman said: "The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at 8.45am on Thursday to reports of a bus on fire close to Our Lady's High School in Cumbernauld.
"Three fire appliances were immediately mobilised to the scene. The bus had overturned on its side and firefighters put out the small fire in the engine compartment. Firefighters remain at the scene."
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