Four in hospital as bus, van crash

Four people were taken to hospital following a collision involving a bus and a van in Clara, Co Offaly, yesterday morning.

Four people were taken to hospital following a collision involving a bus and a van in Clara, Co Offaly, yesterday morning.

The incident happened at Charlestown, just outside Clara, at around 9am.

A Garda spokesman said there were some 20 passengers on the bus, which was carrying students from Tullamore to Moate Business College.

Both occupants of the van and two of the bus passengers were taken from the scene to Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore for treatment.

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A further four students later presented themselves at the hospital.

None of those involved in the collision was seriously injured and all were subsequently released.

The crash was the second in Clara involving students in the past 18 months. A 15-year-old boy was killed in the town in April last year when the school bus in which he was travelling overturned.

In a separate incident yesterday, an 81-year-old man died after apparently collapsing at the wheel of his car before it lost control, crossed a busy road and collided with a van.

Gardaí believe the man may have suffered a heart attack as he drove his light blue Toyota Corolla car along Sandfield Road in Ennis shortly after 8am. One person in the van was slightly injured.

Gardaí in Ennis have appealed for witnesses to the incident to phone them at 065-6848100.