Five people have been taken to hospital after a “terrifying” crash in which a double-decker bus carrying sixth form students left the road and ended up in a river.
Police have praised the bravery of members of the public and emergency services who helped rescue some of the students and the driver who were trapped on board the Bluestar bus following the accident in Bishopstoke Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire.
Emergency services were alerted following the crash at just before 10am, with a total of 20 people including the driver on board.
The passengers were all students on their way to Barton Peveril Sixth Form College, police said.
Inspector Andy Tester, of Hampshire Constabulary, said that five people were taken to hospital for treatment.
A force spokesman confirmed that two people – the driver and a passenger – had suffered injuries that were serious but not “life-threatening”.
Mr Tester said: “It must have been terrifying and my thoughts are very much with the children and the driver on the bus, who must have had a terrifying experience.”
He added that several people, including the driver, were trapped on board when emergency services arrived.
He said: “There were a large number of specialist resources helping to get people out of the bus. Some people had got themselves out of the bus, and it was obviously important to us to triage the injured people, to assess the people who were still stuck in the bus, and to make sure we had accounted for everyone.”
Mr Tester praised the response of passers-by as well as the emergency services. He said: “So there was a lot of bravery shown by many people who were first on scene, who didn’t have training to work in water and weren’t equipped, but quickly backed up by our fire and ambulance colleagues who did have the right training to make it safe and make it a safe working environment.”
He added: “We believe that everyone, every passenger on the bus, was a student heading to Barton Peveril college. And I would stress at this point that all of their families have been notified and that all has been done so they are in touch with their loved ones.”
Mr Tester added that it would be a “complex” operation to remove the bus, which had visibly suffered severe damage to its front and had ended up in the water below the level of the road.
He said: “There’s no indication at the moment as to why the bus left the road, and that is what’s going to form part of our immediate investigation. We hope to open the road within 12 hours. That is our best hope.
“We will do the best we can to shorten that, but, as you’ll appreciate, we have to do a thorough examination of the scene, and then there’s a complex recovery of getting the bus out of the river.”
A South Central Ambulance Service spokesperson said it scrambled five ambulances, two helicopters, and specialist response units to the scene, while Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service sent crews from Eastleigh, St Mary’s, Redbridge, Hightown and Portchester.
Richard Tyldsley, Bluestar general manager, said: “One of our buses, carrying students to Barton Peveril College, was involved in an incident earlier this morning in Bishopstoke Road, Eastleigh. Reports suggest the bus left the highway and came to rest in a shallow river.
“There were 19 passengers on board at the time. Our driver and at least two of the passengers have confirmed injuries, and we are awaiting further updates on the status of others on board. We do not currently have full details of their injuries and are following their progress closely.
“Our thoughts are with everybody involved, and we wish those who were injured a full and speedy recovery.
“At this time, we do not know the circumstances behind this incident and are carrying out an immediate investigation. We are also assisting the police as they carry out their own inquiries.”
