My daughter is now afraid to go on a bus, says mother of crash victim

Four children were hurt when a double-decker bus crashed and ended up on its side in a rural road in Co Down on Monday.

Emergency workers at the scene of the school bus crash near Bangor on Monday (Mark Marlow/PA) (PA Wire)

The mother of one of the children injured in a bus crash in Northern Ireland has said her daughter has been left afraid to get on a bus again.

The parent, who asked not to be named, also called for a full multi-agency probe to be carried out on the use of double-decker buses on rural roads.

The bus was carrying the pupils from Strangford Integrated College in Co Down to Bangor when it crashed and ended up on its side in a field on Monday afternoon.

Four children were removed from the scene by ambulance and two remain in hospital.

It was a horrific event because all you could hear was kids screaming on the phone and (I was) trying to figure out what had happened and where she was

Mother of bus crash victim

The mother was at the school with her daughter on Tuesday to receive specialist counselling which is being offered to the children.

She said: “It was a very scary situation for everyone. I was stuck in Belfast when I got the call.

“My father was able to go to the scene. All I could hear on the phone was the screaming of children. It was panic.

“It was a horrific event because all you could hear was kids screaming on the phone and (I was) trying to figure out what had happened and where she was.”

She added: “She is a bit concerned about it (getting back on a bus) because of the trauma of the event.

“I have spoken to her and said we will have to do that as soon as possible because the longer you leave it, the harder it will be to do it again.

“Because of where Strangford (College) is you have to have a bus.”

The mother said there had to be action taken to prevent any repeat of the crash.

She said: “The thing I would have liked to have heard the (Education) minster (Paul Givan) say would have been that after the incident, (he is) looking at a multi-agency risk assessment.

“It is okay to say we are going to learn from it, but what are you going to do about it?

“An adequate risk assessment of the use of double-decker buses on rural roads, especially those that are more dangerous, there should be a multi-agency risk assessment carried out.

“Only by assessing all the potential dangers will we be able to lay the foundation for a safe transport system to ensure an accident like this never happens again in a rural setting.”

The mother said she had been unable to sleep on Monday night as she was monitoring her daughter, who had suffered concussion in the crash.