Children survive horrific Antrim Coast Road crash involving school bus

These dramatic pictures show the aftermath of a collision involving a school bus and a car on the Antrim Coast Road, near Ballygally, on Thursday morning (October 9).
The school bus at the spot where it hit the sea wall on the Antrim Coast Road on Thursday morning, after being in collision with a Peugeot car. INLT 42-627-CONThe school bus at the spot where it hit the sea wall on the Antrim Coast Road on Thursday morning, after being in collision with a Peugeot car. INLT 42-627-CON
The school bus at the spot where it hit the sea wall on the Antrim Coast Road on Thursday morning, after being in collision with a Peugeot car. INLT 42-627-CON

The Larne Times understands that 14 primary school children were on board the bus when the incident happened on a bend close to the former Drumnagreagh Hotel.

The North Eastern Education Library has confirmed that none of the children – who were being taken to class at Cairncastle Primary School – was seriously injured after the bus hit the sea wall. A board spokesman said that the children were given health checks and sent home with their parents. The bus driver is also said to be uninjured.

Police are appealing for information. Constable Noel Regan said: “Police received a report of a two-vehicle RTC between a car and a school bus, just before 8.40am. No injuries were reported in the RTC, however the road was blocked for a while as a result.

The Peugeot car which was in collision with a school bus on the Antrim Coast Road on Thursday morning. INLT 42-625-CONThe Peugeot car which was in collision with a school bus on the Antrim Coast Road on Thursday morning. INLT 42-625-CON
The Peugeot car which was in collision with a school bus on the Antrim Coast Road on Thursday morning. INLT 42-625-CON

“I would appeal to anyone who may have witnessed the school bus, or a white Mercedes car in the area, or who witnessed the RTC, to contact us at Ballymena Police Station on the non -mergency number 101.”

Rev Paul Reid, a member of Mid and East Antrim Council, who visited the scene, told the Times: “Going by the amount of debris that was scattered over a length of the Coast Road, it very fortunate indeed that there weren’t any fatalities. The car was so badly damage that the engine was ripped out and was found several hundred feet away from the rest of the wreckage.

“Had it not been for the bus coming to a halt at the sea wall, we would be talking today about something very horrific.”

Related topics: