Nine people, including six children, have been injured in a collision between a school bus and a car, in Co Limerick.
The collision near Ahane in Ardvarna, Lisnagry was reported to emergency services at 8.15am.
The 28-seater bus contracted by Bus Éireann from a private operator was in collision with a white Renault Lagunad on a bend in the road near a house.
One of the schoolchildren managed to exit the vehicle and run a mile to a house to raise the alarm, a source said.
The bus was ferrying seven pupils to Newport Post-Primary School. The school has been asked for comment.
According to the source, the car ended up following the collision “pinned” between the front of the bus and a wall of a house.
Two people travelling in the car were cut from the wreckage by firefighters . The driver and passenger of the car, along with the six school-children and their bus driver, were all taken to hospital by ambulance.
“Out of the six injured children, one has a (suspected) broken jaw; another has a (suspected) broken arm; and four have head lacerations,” said the source.
The driver of the bus is believed to have sustained a chest injury.
“One of the schoolchildren who was on the bus ran about a mile to a house to raise the alarm,” the source added.
At least five ambulances responded to the scene and quickly set up a “staging area” nearby to initially give space to firefighters as they cut the driver and passenger from their car and helped the injured off the bus.
Some of the nine injured are said to have sustained “serious, but not life threatening injuries”, the source said.
Gardai have closed the road and are awaiting the arrival of a forensic collision inspector to conduct a technical examination of the scene.
Bus Éireann acknowledged the speedy response of emergency services which were called to the scene to attend some minor injuries.
“An investigation into the incident is being carried out by An Garda Síochána — which we are co-operating fully with – and an internal investigation will also be completed.”
A spokeswoman for Bus Éireann confirmed all seats on the bus had seatbelts. “By law all school transport buses must have safety belts,” she added.