Seven children are fighting for life after a horrific bus crash near Melbourne.
The crash occurred on the corner of Exford and Murphys Rd at Eynesbury, west of Melbourne‘s CBD, on Tuesday afternoon.
Emergency services were called to the scene at 3:40pm.
The bus was heading from Exford Primary School, which is located just 900metres away from the crash site, when a truck hit the vehicle from behind, according to Victoria Police.
The collision caused the bus to roll on its side.
There were 45 children, aged between five and 11, from Exford Primary School on the bus at the time with 10 students suffering multiple and traumatic injuries.
‘This include the partial and complete amputation of arms,’ Bernadette McDonald, chief executive of Royal Children’s Hospital, told a press conference.
‘We admitted seven patients, one of those is in our intensive care unit at the moment. The ages of the children range from five to 11 years old.
‘The children have suffered multiple and traumatic injuries, including partial and complete amputations of arms, multiple crushed limb injuries, severe lacerations to head and body, head injuries, classified injuries and creations that currently receiving spinal support and being monitored carefully in terms of spinal injuries.
‘Some have required amputations.’
One adult and 14 school children have been rushed to hospital after a school bus collided with a truck on Tuesday afternoon
One adult and 13 children were rushed to hospital, with 10 of those children suffering ‘serious traumatic’ injuries, according to Ambulance Victoria.
‘Ten children were taken by ambulance to hospital with serious injuries,’ Ambulance Victoria said in a statement.
‘Three other children and an adult were transported by ambulance to hospital in a stable condition.’
Many students in hospital will require surgeries in the coming days.
‘Paramedics remained on scene assessing patients for more than three hours.’
The male bus driver sustained minor injuries.
Passers-by helped free some of the children from the overturned vehicle before emergency services arrived.
Six people were trapped inside the mangled wreckage but they were eventually rescued by firefighters and SES workers.
Read Related Also: Hervey Bay snake catchers: panicked woman vacuums yellow-faced whip snake
There were 45 children on the school bus at the time of the crash. Six were trapped inside the bus but they were freed from the mangled wreckage by emergency services
One adult and 14 children were rushed to hospital, with 10 of those children suffering serious injuries from the crash
The truck driver, who is a 49-year-old man from Balliang, near Geelong, is assisting with police inquiries.
Parents arrived at the crash site looking for their children.
Two air ambulances were called.
Photos show dozens of police, Country Fire Authority (CFA) firefighters, paramedics and SES at the site. The CFA and SES are seen trying to free children from the bus.
A number of parents from the school conveyed their shock over the crash on social media.
‘Thinking of all those impacted by this accident, especially our nephews and niece,’ one woman wrote on Facebook.
‘This is just devastating for our community. Thinking of all involved and their families,’ said another.
The collision occurred on the corner of Exford and Murphys Rd at Eynesbury, west of Melbourne ‘s CBD
Victoria Police Superintendent Michael Cruse explained that the bus was turning right when it was struck.
‘It travelled west along Exford Road and while it was attempting to turn right onto Murphy’s Road, we believe a truck has collided with the rear of the bus,’ he said at the scene.
‘The bus has overturned as it’s turned right.’
Detectives from the Major Collision Investigation Unit will investigate the circumstances of the crash
Roads in the area will remain closed.
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) has urged people to stay away from the area.
