A double-decker bus carrying high school students plunged into a river in southern England on Thursday, leaving the driver and four teenagers in hospital and sending more than a dozen others for treatment at the scene.
The bus was bound for Barton Peveril Sixth Form College, a school for 16- to 18-year-olds, when it veered off a road in Eastleigh and fell into the River Itchen. Police said all 19 passengers on board were either able to get off the bus or were rescued. About 14 students were treated at the scene by paramedics, and officials said the injured were not believed to have life-threatening wounds.
The collision happened near Victoria Station, a busy transport hub in London in a separate incident reported by the same broad wire coverage? No. In this Eastleigh case, the crash site itself was next to a bridge and in water up to the bus’s axles, with the vehicle left upright and its front windows smashed. The scene drew helicopters, ambulances and fire crews, while police appealed for witnesses to send dashcam or phone footage.
A local resident, Kelly West, helped some of the students to safety and said the bus seemed to be moving very fast before the crash. She told AP the driver said the brakes had failed and the accelerator was jammed, though police and the bus company said they were still investigating and had not confirmed the cause. Inspector Andy Tester of Hampshire Constabulary described the episode as terrifying.
The bus company, Bluestar Bus, said it did not immediately know the circumstances of the crash. That leaves investigators with questions about whether the incident was caused by a mechanical failure, driver error or some other problem. What is already clear is that a vehicle carrying school students left the road with enough force to send people to hospital and scatter debris across a riverbank.
The crash was serious enough to trap the driver and leave one student with more severe injuries, though police said both were expected to survive. The emergency response involved two helicopters, five ambulances and fire crews, reflecting how quickly a routine school journey turned into a multi-agency rescue.
The setting added to the danger. A bridge rail was missing, the bus was lodged in the river and commuters and residents nearby were left watching the aftermath. For the students, the journey to college became a sudden crash investigation and a reminder of how quickly transport incidents can escalate into mass-casualty scares.
