SCHOOL pupils caught up in the bus crash drama have described a scene of chaos, with injured children screaming and crying.
The bus crashed into a ditch in Humby Road, Ingoldsby after being forced to swerve to avoid a collision with a red Mini Cooper car at around 4.15pm last Friday (May 25).
Jasmine Kelham, 15, said: “We were going round a corner and a mini car came towards us. The driver tried to pull over on to the grass verge to avoid it and the bus just went in.
“I was standing up at the time because I was about to get off. I fell down across the stairs and all this glass just came at me.
“Everyone was crying and screaming.”
But rather than panic, three of the older pupils from The Charles Read Academy - Jasmine, Russell Beck and Jordan McGlann - worked as a team to get all of the children safely off the bus.
Jordan, 14, even took off his school shirt to help the bus driver deal with his injuries.
Russell, 16, said: “Jordan went to the front to help people there, I was helping them get out near the back of the bus and Jasmine was helping them get out from outside.
“I don’t know why we did it really. There were a lot of young people on the bus who were scared and needed help.”
A mother whose child was on the bus contacted the Journal this week and described the three teenagers as heroes.
But Russell doesn’t see anything remarkable in their actions.
He said: “I think everyone would have done the same thing - I don’t think that makes us heroes. It was just the right thing to do.”
Headteacher Richard Johnston said he was grateful nobody was seriously hurt - although it was a close call for at least one child.
Mr Johnston said: “Some of the trees came through the windows and one boy in was very lucky because a tree shaved past his head. He said if it had been an inch the other way it would have gone through his eye.”
Mr Johnston said he was proud of the actions of the three pupils.
He added: “They all did the right thing and didn’t panic. They made sure everybody got out and helped the smaller ones.”
