Gardaí are investigating the circumstances in which a seven-year-old schoolboy suffered serious head injuries when he fell out of the emergency back door of a moving school bus. The boy's brother and sister were among more than 20 children who watched as the child fell out the door.
The child was on his way home from Gortletteragh national school in Co Leitrim on Tuesday when the accident happened.
A Garda public service vehicle (PSV) inspector examined the privately-contracted coach yesterday as Bus Éireann confirmed that it had passed a road-worthiness test in June and that all seats were fitted with seat belts in compliance with the law.
A Bus Éireann spokeswoman said the company was very concerned for the little boy, whose condition was described as "critical but stable" by a Beaumont Hospital spokeswoman yesterday.
"This must be a terrible ordeal for the family," the spokeswoman said.
She said the company was awaiting the outcome of the PSV examination and would co-operate with the Garda investigation.
The incident happened at about 3.20pm on Tuesday, less than a mile from the rural school, which is between Mohill and Drumlish.
Gardaí who were called to the scene provided an escort as the injured child was taken to Sligo General Hospital from where he was transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin later that evening.
The 53-seater coach, which is 17 years old, was removed by gardaí to Carrick-on-Shannon station for inspection.
Bus Éireann said that the coach had a valid Department of the Environment certificate and that the emergency doors had been checked during the road-worthiness test last June.
The local community was shocked by the accident and neighbours expressed sympathy for the parents, who are both from Gortletteragh parish and very popular figures locally.
"Our hearts go out to them," said Cllr Sinéad Guckian, cathaoirleach of Leitrim County Council, who some years ago spearheaded a local campaign to highlight the need for seat belts on school buses.
A Garda spokesman in Carrick-on-Shannon said all the children who were on the bus would be interviewed, in the company of their parents, as part of the investigation, which is expected to focus on the emergency door.
