A school bus crash in southwest England resulted in the death of one student and left two others seriously injured.
The incident took place on Thursday, when the bus, which was carrying middle school students, ran off the road and overturned. Authorities said that three medical helicopters and 20 ambulances were sent to the area of the incident and that 21 people were brought to the hospital.
School Bus Crash in Southwest England
Law enforcement said that the school bus that crashed was carrying 60 to 70 passengers and was on its way back to Minehead Middle School in Somerset after a day trip. Chief of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue, Gavin Ellis, said the vehicle went down a 20-foot embankment after it overturned.
The incident comes as the school that employs the bus, which teaches children aged nine to 14, was already in its final days before summer break, according to ABC News.
In a statement, Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his condolences to the family of the killed student and said that his thoughts were with the friends and family of the others who were involved in the crash.
Starmer said in a post on X that there were no words he could say to acknowledge the death of a child. He also thanked emergency workers who were quick to respond to the incident and kept more people from being gravely injured.
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At the time of the incident, there was an off-duty firefighter who was driving his car behind the school bus. When they saw the incident, they quickly started to free passengers while dozens of other firefighters and ambulance crews were dispatched to the scene.
Ellis said that their crews carried out several extrications and rescues amid extremely difficult circumstances while also supporting colleagues with casualty treatment, the St. Albert Gazette reported.
Student Killed
There was a similar incident that took place in April when a 13-year-old boy died after a school bus crashed on a South Carolina highway. At the time, authorities said that the vehicle was transporting kids from the Lexington County School District Two.
The bus was reportedly traveling along Interstate 77 when it overturned after coming back from a field trip. South Carolina Highway Patrol's Sgt. Tyler Tidwell said that the bus was carrying 38 people when it traveled off the road, struck a guardrail, and overturned.
The sole fatality in the incident was later identified as a Pine Ridge Middle School student, and there were others who were injured and taken to local hospitals to be treated, as per USA Today.
