Strangford College: Bus rescuer used hammer to free pupils

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Democratic Unionist Party representative explained he spoke to a number of parents, including a woman whose daughter was on the bus and had experienced both physical and emotional trauma.

“We must find out what happened,” he added.

Shannon also confirmed that extra staff will be present at the college to “reassure the children and the parents”.

Shannon asked people not to speculate abut what happened and said: “The reasons for it are unknown.”

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 there would be a full investigation into the crash to see if lessons can be learned.

“My emotions are one of relief and gratitude that everyone was okay and everyone responded so well,” he added.