The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said it is dealing with a ‘major incident’ involving a bus with 43 passengers and a driver in County Down.
In a social media post, the ambulance service said: “NIAS is currently dealing with a major incident at Carrowdore involving a bus with up to 70 passengers.
‘NIAS has dispatched multiple resources to the scene.
‘Please only call 999 if your situation is life-threatening while we deal with this incident.’
The figure has since been revised and it has been confirmed that 44 people were on board.
12-year-old Dylan Lee, who is a pupil at Strangford Integrated College was on board the bus when it crashed.
Describing the incident, he said: ‘The bus hit a post and it started to stall and went down this hill.
‘It just started shaking. I closed my eyes and then I opened them and I was on the floor. The first thing I did when I got up was to phone my mum.’
He said a man with a hammer came to their aid and smashed the windows so the could escape.
‘I was crawling under stuff like railings and school bags and stuff. It was on its side in the field,’ he continued.
Dylan’s mother Stacey Lee said: ‘I could hear him screaming that he had crashed and I could hear all the kids in the background screaming. It was awful.’
A specialist rescue team is at the scene of a serious bus crash in County Down.
In an update released by the ambulance service, it said: ‘NIAS has assessed and treated patients at the scene, with 4 currently requiring further treatment at hospital.
‘The remainder have either been, or are in the process of being assessed with a view to discharging at the scene.’
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said: ‘Five fire appliances and the specialist rescue team are currently at the scene of a road traffic collision involving an overturned bus on the Ballyblack Road East, Newtownards.’
Local sources suggest it is a school bus from Strangford College. Staff at the college told Metro that it is working to establish if its students were on board.
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