SH1 Brynderwyns school bus accident: seven injured, ambulance checking children leaving scene

High school children are among seven people injured in an accident between a school bus and a van on State Highway 1.

The accident happened just before 8.20 a.m. M. Between a Leabourn Passenger Service bus and a black Honda Odyssey about 20 meters on SH12 from the intersection of SH1 on the south side of Brynderwyn Hills.

St John treated seven patients on the spot, including five who were taken by ambulance to Whāngārei Hospital in moderate condition. The other two were in mild condition and did not require hospitalization.

It is understood that 18 people left the site before emergency services arrived and were transferred to Otamatea High School in Maungaturoto.

A spokeswoman for St John said a Primary Medical Emergency Response physician, a rural physician called in to major incidents, and an ambulance were also going to the school as a precaution to check on their condition.

A reporter at the scene said the van in the accident had been towed while the bus was parked on the side of the road and police, serious investigators of the accident, were speaking with the driver.

Traffic flows freely, there are no blocked roads. Highway maintenance crews are cleaning the road.

Three ambulances, a helicopter and a manager were called to the scene, St John said.

A witness on the street said a woman and four children, including a baby, had been in the Honda Odyssey that had just been converted to SH12 and then stopped to turn into a nearby parking lot.

The witness said the car was stationary, indicating to turn right because a truck was coming from the opposite direction on SH12. The bus exited from behind the family car on SH12 and struck the rear, pushing it into the path of the oncoming truck.

“I just looked out the window and saw that the car was getting crushed.

“The bus turned the corner … the bus crashed into her.”

The witness said she immediately came down to help.

“I ran and had my children bring blankets and water.

“Another lady had come too and was helping the kids out of the car. Those kids … they weren’t good,” she said, taking a deep breath.

“They stuck to her like mother bear.”

The witness said that she and several other members of the public managed to get the woman and children out of the vehicle safely before emergency services arrived.

The children and the woman, who he assumed to be his mother, appeared to be in shock after the accident.

The witness said that locals often dropped off their children at the SH12 bus stop.

Many parents drove to the parking lot the woman was trying to enter, before the children crossed the street to wait for the school bus.

“It’s very dangerous. I’ve been saying it for years,” said the witness.

“Even though my children are now teenagers and they are ashamed, I keep crossing the street with them because it is very dangerous and I just want them to arrive safely.”

When asked how she feels now, after the events of this morning, she said that she was still in shock herself.

“It was horrible,” he said.

“I’m still nervous, I’m having coffee and wondering if I should go to work or not.”

The police’s Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit is investigating the accident.

Earlier, around 8:05 a.m. M., A car crashed into a barrier outside the Countdown supermarket in the Okara Mall. The accident shattered a store window. It is believed to have been caused by a medical event.

Meanwhile, a flatbed truck carrying a house collided with power lines in the Hikutaia area of ​​Coromandel.

A police spokeswoman said police were called in for the incident on State Highway 26 near Corbett Rd around 7:08 a.m.

The road is closed between Paeroa and Kopu and there are detours on State Highway 2, Hauraki Rd, and State Highway 25A.