Concern as school bus crash leaves
one dead
A 15-YEAR-old boy was killed and dozens more students injured in a road
crash involving a school bus in Co. Offaly.
The accident happened between Rahan and Clara when the bus overturned
on the road. The students were on their way to Killina Presentation Secondary
School when the crash took place.
Ambulances from Portlaoise, Tullamore and Athlone have attended the scene
and ferried the injured to hospital.
Ireland’s Minister for Education Mary Hanafin offered her condolences
to the students and families.
She said she had asked for all necessary support including counselling
to be made available to the school community in Rahan. The Minister also
paid tribute to the emergency services involved.
Fine Gael Education Spokeswoman Olwyn Enright said there was particular
concern the accident was the second serious one to involve a school bus
in a short space of time.
In May last year five schoolgirls died in a school bus crash in Navan
in Co. Meath.
Ms Enright sympathised with the victim’s family and friends and
said a thorough investigation must be held into the cause.
The Labour Party Spokeswoman on Education Jan O’Sullivan said an
analysis of the circumstances and reasons for the crash must take second
place behind concern for all those who had been caught-up in the tragedy.
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