Two youths riding ponies bareback across one of the State's busiest dual carriageways are believed to have caused an articulated lorry to crash into a double-decker coach carrying almost 70 schoolboys home from a theatre outing to Dublin.
Forty-eight boys received hospital treatment and the lorry driver and nine boys were detained overnight for treatment. The lorry driver received serious head injuries. Eyewitnesses said it was miraculous there were not multiple deaths when the lorry swerved to avoid the boys on horseback and jackknifed across the central division into the path of the oncoming coach.
The accident happened on the Chapelizod Bypass at 4.45 p.m. The stretch of dual carriageway is one of the busiest in the State and traffic had built up for the evening rush hour.
The coach was carrying 73 pupils and three teachers back from a performance of Juno and the Paycock in Dublin to the Salesian College in Celbridge.
Seventeen of the boys were taken to the Meath Hospital, 26 to the James Connolly Memorial in Blanchardstown and three in St James's in Dublin. Staff in Dublin's hospital emergency units were put on alert. Last night the driver and the two most seriously injured boys were transferred to Beaumont, the Adelaide and the Mater hospitals for surgery.
The principal of the Salesian College in Celbridge, Mr Daniel Carroll, said the boys had all been extremely shocked but many expressed admiration at the way the coach driver had managed to avoid a head-on collision with the lorry. "They are grateful that there were no fatalities. They are immensely grateful to the driver. They acknowledge that if it were not for his confidence and ability, we would be dealing with a major tragedy."
One student, Ricci Fusco (17), who suffered bruising of the ribs and a gash in the eye said: "The truck crashed into the side of the bus and I was sitting beside the window so it hit me in the side. I saw one boy with a big open wound on the side of his face." There was panic and "a lot of screaming and shouting" as the children attempted to extricate themselves from the bus.
Smoke was billowing from the rear, said Tristan Mullally (17), who was treated for minor injuries at the Meath Hospital. He said he saw a horse just before the collision. "I saw a horse with a chap on it going across the road. Everyone flew into the air when it happened," he said.
Ciaran Maloney (17) had a gash in his forehead after his head hit the top of a seat. He said: "I saw a truck coming across the road and then everyone was screaming." The vehicles glanced off each other and the coach careered off the roadway, crashing into an embankment.
At least five of the pupils were trapped in the wreckage for over 20 minutes and had to be cut free.
The driver and passenger of a small van, which crashed into the back of the coach, were also taken to hospital. A number of people travelling in two cars which crashed behind the coach were treated for superficial injuries.