Seven children are in hospital with serious injuries after a truck struck a school bus carrying 45 students on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday afternoon.
Police said the truck hit the rear of the school bus and caused it to overturn at an intersection in Eynesbury, which is a semi-rural community west of Melbourne.
Head injuries, arm amputations and suspected spinal injuries were reported by a hospital official.
A total of 21 children where initially taken by ambulance from the scene for medical care and seven of them remain hospitalised on Wednesday.
One of the children was in intensive care, Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne chief executive Bernadette McDonald said, noting the children range in age from five to 11 years old.
“The children have suffered multiple and traumatic injuries including partial and complete amputations of arms, multiple crushing injuries, severe lacerations of the head and body, head injuries, glass shard injuries and three patients are being monitored carefully in terms of spinal injuries,” Ms McDonald said.
She also said the hospital was assisting some extremely traumatised families, adding, “we’re working extremely hard to provide that trauma support and care that they will need not just now but in the coming weeks and months as well”.
Ms McDonald said one child lost an entire arm but she did not elaborate on how many of the injured had partial amputations.
About six children were temporarily trapped in the wrecked bus, the Country Fire Authority said. Emergency crews entered the bus through a skylight in its roof, and the smashed-out windshield was used as the main emergency exit.
Emergency services are currently at the scene of a collision between a bus and a truck in Eynesbury.
At this stage investigators believe there was a collision between the truck and a bus carrying up to 45 child passengers about 3.40pm.
Read more: https://t.co/ksIThot5NS pic.twitter.com/59mDeB0sdZ— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) May 16, 2023
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Paramedics assessed dazed victims who did not appear to need hospitalisation in the grass surrounding the crash site.
The bus driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries but was not admitted.
Police crash investigators were questioning the driver of the truck, which had damage to its front. The truck driver was not injured.
At the time of the crash, the children were returning to a nearby primary school after competing in an athletics event.
