Bus crash girl killed on birthday

Headmaster of Keswick School Mike Chapman speaks about the fatal accident
12 April 2012

One of the children killed when a school bus crashed in Cumbria was celebrating her birthday, police have revealed.

Chloe Walker, from Frizington, was on her way home after spending her 16th birthday with classmates at Keswick School when she was killed on Monday, along with fellow pupil Kieran Goulding, 15, from Whitehaven, and a third adult victim who was driving a Honda Civic.

Police said children from the same school who were travelling on a minibus rushed to help their classmates after the crash. The minibus was behind the 49-seater coach and its occupants saw it swerve, turn over and crash with their schoolmates on board.

Nine children were still in hospital today, two in a serious but stable condition after the school-run crash near Keswick. The coach driver, a 63-year-old man, was also in a stable condition in hospital, Cumbria Police said,

The crash left 35 others as "walking wounded". The injuries included fractures and spinal injuries. All were hurt when the bus, ferrying children from school in Keswick to their homes around Cockermouth, apparently swerved to avoid a vehicle, collided with the Honda Civic and ended up on its side on the A66.

The tragedy has left both staff and pupils "shocked and dismayed", headmaster Mike Chapman said. He said the details of the crash were "very sketchy" and it was "a sight that very few students wish to see again in their lives".

"We have lost two of our own in Kieran and Chloe," Mr Chapman said. "All I can say is they were Keswick School children and that makes them the most wonderful children in the world. We're all praying for our students who remain critically ill and all of those who suffered both psychologically and emotionally."

Thanking the emergency services for help in "tackling the horror in our midst", he said the school is open with support for students.

Chief Superintendent Steve Johnson, speaking at the crash scene, said: "It's too early to talk about what caused this accident. We are certain there were only two vehicles involved.

"The third, the minibus containing children, was very near to the accident and witnessed it and clearly the children were very traumatised."

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