Strangford College: Bus rescuer used hammer to free pupils

BBC A blue Ulsterbus lies on its side in a field. There are removal workers standing around wearing orange high visibility jackets and red removal truck is parked near the bus in the field. The damaged hedge can be seen in the foreground of the picture.
BBC

The bus was being removed from the field on Tuesday morning

School children were “crying and shouting for help” after their double-decker bus overturned in a field in County Down on Monday, according to an eyewitness.

Gary Smyth described trying to kick in glass to help pupils out after the crash on Ballyblack Road East, near Carrowdore, on Monday.

The plasterer described taking a hammer from his work van and along with a colleague “lifted the glass and we climbed in, and we lifted the pupils out”.

“It was like something out of a movie,” he added.

‘Absolutely in shock’

Gary Smyth Gary Smyth is wearing a white shirt and has dark brown hair. He is smiling at the camera.Gary Smyth

Gary Smyth described trying to kick in glass to help pupils out after the crash

The bus was carrying 43 school children, as well as the driver, from Strangford Integrated College to Bangor, when it crashed just after 16:00 BST.

Four of the pupils were treated in hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

“It just happened so quick,” Mr Smyth said.

“It’s just something you don’t want to see. Through the cracked glass, you could see the panic in their faces.

“They were crying and shouting for help, so we just attacked the glass like lunatics, and we got them out,” he said.

Mr Smyth said it was hard to believe that no one was killed.

“I definitely thought as we were breaking in that we were going to be lifting something out, some limbs or something, somebody.

“I just couldn’t believe there were just cuts and bruises, and yes, I’m sure there are a load of sore backs, because they were all threw about the bus,” he said.

He said the driver was “absolutely in shock”.

“There was a medic on the scene and he was more panicked about the driver because everyone was out, bar the wee fella who was trapped with his arm and the wee girl with her leg, she was trapped,” he said.

Jonny Currie  Five people standing in front of a caravan with arms round each other. On the left a child is wearing a black t-shirt with white graphic writing across it, they have brown hair. Next a man wearing glasses with short grey hair. he is wearing a denim shirt with a graphic t-shirt underneath and green shorts. Next a woman is wearing denim dungarees with a black t-shirt. she has grey hair tied up. next a child is wearing a large sweatshirt and has long blonde hair. Last a child is wearing a bright blue t-shirt and has curly hair, he is giving a thumbs up. Jonny Currie

Jonny Currie’s daughters Edie (left) and Tilly (second right) were on the bus. Also pictured is Lisa Rea Currie and Linus Currie

One parent described how his daughters were still in shock about what happened and said that it would take a long time before they were able to get on a bus again.

Speaking on Good Morning Ulster, Jonny Currie said: “When we heard the news, it was coming in drips and drabs, it was a very fast-moving situation and you were having to piece together different things you were hearing from other parents and what you were seeing on Facebook.”

He wanted to thank other parents who got to the scene first and phoned him to say his daughters were safe.

“I was at the bus station where I usually pick up the girls and I got a phone call from my wife to say there had been an accident.

“It was working it out from there, where is it? How can I get there? How bad is it? It was a very very uncertain few moments.

“I was able to park about a mile up from the site and I ran the rest of the way to get there as quick as possible.”

Mr Currie said he is really relieved that the girls walked away.

Pupils injured after school bus crash in County Down

The school principal, Clare Foster, said it had been a difficult and distressing experience for the pupils the wider school community.

She said the school was working closely with the Education Authority, whose trained staff in critical incident response would be supporting parents and pupils.

Strangford College pupil Dylan was sitting on the top deck of the bus when it crashed.

The MP for Strangford added pupils had been left traumatised after the crash.

Jim Shannon said the main focus was making sure the children affected were “alright”.

He told BBC News NI’s Good Morning Ulster on Tuesday the passengers were “like a stone in a box” and described it as a “miracle” that no one was killed.

He said he understood one of the pupils had a pelvic injury.

Map showing Millisle, Newtownards, Carrowdore, Bangor - Ballyblack Road Eat in the middle.

The bus was taking pupils from Strangford Integrated College to Bangor

‘The safety of children’

The education minister described hearing the crash as “a parent’s worst nightmare”.

Paul Givan said a crisis response team will go to the school on Tuesday to provide support to help the pupils as “they process the emotional trauma of this as well as the physical trauma that has been inflicted on some of the children”.

“It is a miracle we’re not dealing with a fatality today,” the minister said.

Givan said Translink, as well as the police service, will be reviewing what happened.

“What is of absolute paramount importance is the safety of children as they are travelling to and from school,” he said.

He continued he wants to know how many of the pupils were wearing seatbelts.

“I’ll be wanting to have a report provided to me about this incident and making sure that if there are lessons to be learned, then action can then be taken,” he added.

In a statement, the PSNI said paramedics treated and discharged 33 people at the scene.

Firefighters used specialist cutting equipment to rescue two casualties from the bus.

Speaking to BBC News NI at Strangford College on Tuesday, Ulster Unionist Party Councillor Pete Wray said his emotions were of “relief and gratitude that everyone was okay and everyone responded so well”.

Scroll to Top