Schoolgirl dead, students injured in bus rollover near Geelong

The cause of a horror crash that left a girl dead and 11 of her schoolmates in hospital remains unknown.

More than 20 people were taken to hospitals in Geelong and Melbourne after the crash, which occurred about 8.20am on the Hamilton Highway in Stonehaven, about 12 kilometres west of Geelong.

The bus was carrying 28 secondary school-aged children to Christian College Geelong, which operates five campuses in and around the regional city.

Police say the crash happened as the bus turned left onto the Hamilton Highway, heading for the college’s three Geelong campuses, from Friend in Hand Road.

The bus, one of a fleet of 30 the school uses to drive about 900 of its students each day, rolled on its side and caught fire. Passengers were trapped inside before being freed by rescuers.

Police confirmed that a female student had died at the scene, a boy was airlifted to Royal Children’s Hospital in Parkville with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, and another child was taken to the RCH by ambulance later in the day.

The driver of the bus, a 76-year-old man Hamlyn Heights man, was taken by ambulance to Geelong University Hospital, along with eight students, none of whom had life-threatening injuries. The children had sustained injuries including broken bones and a skull fracture, Nine News reported.

Another group of 11 students were bussed to the regional hospital for assessment, and nine children were still being treated there late on Wednesday, according to the state government.

The driver was released from hospital and was assisting police with their inquiries.

Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Lineham, of the major collision investigation unit, said he and his colleagues had not yet determined the cause of the crash.

“We’ll assess the driver’s competency to drive in the first place,” Lineham said. “We’ll look at everything from fatigue and whether there was drugs and alcohol or any other factor beforehand, or medical conditions.

“We will look at the condition of the bus, so that will be a full mechanical assessment done on the bus, and we also look at the corner itself.”

Lineham described the distressing scenes at the crash site.

“This scene was a very confronting when emergency services first arrived here,” he said.

“Any life lost on the road is one life too many, and it is particularly confronting and challenging when there’s children involved.

“For the first members on the scene to come across a bus with one child deceased and multiple children injured is incredibly confronting.”

The school’s executive principal, Mathilda Joubert, told parents by email on Wednesday afternoon that the school community was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy.

“Tragically, a student on board that bus has lost their life,” Joubert said in the email.

“Several other students were injured and are receiving treatment. This matter is now a Victoria Police investigation.

“Our community is deeply saddened by this news and our thoughts and prayers are with the student’s family at this incredibly difficult time.

“The impact of this loss will be felt across our entire Christian College community, and we offer our heartfelt sympathy to all impacted by this incident.”

The principal said children at the school had not been officially informed about the tragedy by college authorities.

“Students have not been informed about the incident as we respect parents and carers may wish to speak to their children first,” Joubert wrote.

Premier Jacinta Allan joined other state and federal politicians in offering her condolences late on Wednesday to the school community and the family of the deceased girl.

The premier extended her “deepest sympathies to the family, the loved ones, the friends, the schoolmates of the girl who was so tragically killed earlier today”.

“I’d also like to convey my sympathy to the broader school community, who’d be feeling not just the loss of their schoolmate and their friend, but also to the other students, many other students, who were injured as a result of this accident, and ... my thoughts are with the bus driver as well,” Allan said.

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