Pupils 'crying and shouting for help' after bus crash

School children were "crying and shouting for help" aft their double-decker autobus overturned successful a tract successful County Down connected Monday, according to an eyewitness.

Gary Smyth described trying to footwear successful solid to assistance pupils retired aft the clang connected Ballyblack Road East, adjacent Carrowdore, connected Monday.

The plasterer described taking a hammer from his enactment van and on with a workfellow "lifted the solid and we climbed in, and we lifted the pupils out".

"It was similar thing retired of a movie," helium added.

The autobus was carrying 43 schoolhouse children, arsenic good arsenic the driver, from Strangford Integrated College to Bangor, erstwhile it crashed conscionable aft 16:00 BST.

Four of the pupils were treated successful infirmary with non-life threatening injuries.

"It conscionable happened truthful quick," Mr Smyth said.

"It's conscionable thing you don’t privation to see. Through the cracked glass, you could spot the panic successful their faces.

"They were crying and shouting for help, truthful we conscionable attacked the solid similar lunatics, and we got them out," helium said.

Mr Smyth said it was hard to judge that nary 1 was killed.

"I decidedly thought arsenic we were breaking successful that we were going to beryllium lifting thing out, immoderate limbs oregon something, somebody.

"I conscionable couldn’t judge determination were conscionable cuts and bruises, and yes, I’m definite determination are a load of sore backs, due to the fact that they were each threw astir the bus," helium said.

He said the operator was "absolutely successful shock".

"There was a medic connected the country and helium was much panicked astir the operator due to the fact that everyone was out, barroom the wee fella who was trapped with his limb and the wee miss with her leg, she was trapped," helium said.

The schoolhouse principal, Clare Foster, said it had been a hard and distressing acquisition for the pupils the wider schoolhouse community.

She said the schoolhouse was moving intimately with the Education Authority, whose trained unit successful captious incidental effect would beryllium supporting parents and pupils.

The MP for Strangford added pupils had been near traumatised aft the crash.

Jim Shannon said the main absorption was making definite the children affected were "alright".

He told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster connected Tuesday the passengers were "like a chromatic successful a box" and described it arsenic a "miracle" that nary 1 was killed.

He said helium understood 1 of the pupils had a pelvic injury.

The Democratic Unionist Party typical explained helium spoke to a fig of parents, including a pistillate whose girl was connected the autobus and had experienced some carnal and affectional trauma.

"We indispensable find retired what happened," helium added.

Shannon besides confirmed that other unit volition beryllium contiguous astatine the assemblage to "reassure the children and the parents".

Shannon asked radical not to speculate abut what happened and said: "The reasons for it are unknown."

In a statement, the PSNI said paramedics treated and discharged 33 radical astatine the scene.

Firefighters utilized specializer cutting instrumentality to rescue 2 casualties from the bus.

Speaking to BBC News NI astatine Strangford College connected Tuesday, Ulster Unionist Party Councillor Pete Wray said determination would beryllium a afloat probe into the clang to spot if lessons tin beryllium learned.

"My emotions are 1 of alleviation and gratitude that everyone was good and everyone responded truthful well," helium added.