One killed as British school bus overturns on Belgian motorway

A coach driver was killed and several passengers injured yesterday morning when a bus carrying children from a school in Essex, southern England, hit a motorway bridge pillar and overturned on the E40 near Middelkerke in West Flanders. 

The bus was carrying 34 children aged between 11 and 13 from the private Brentwood School, as well as eight adults. They were on their way to Phantasialand amusement park near Cologne. Three passengers – two children and one adult – were seriously injured and spent the night in hospitals in Bruges and Veurne.

Two boys remain in hospital; a 13-year-old is in intensive care with a head injury, but his condition is not thought to be life-threatening. All the other pupils and staff have returned home.

The cause of the accident is not clear, though a preliminary investigation showed there were no signs of braking in the approach to the bridge, which might signify that the driver had fallen asleep. The driver who died was not driving the coach at the time of the crash. The Bruges prosecutor’s office is carrying out a full enquiry.

Photo courtesy VRT